(whatever) seismograph

2009-07-17T08:26:00.000-06:00

Back on track, kids! Major website update in the next coupla' weeks...

2008-02-24T18:01:00.002-06:00

New York Peoples! Come join Nathan Eddy and mine's BIRTHDAYPALOOZA, March 8th. We're holding the bar, so no worries, be like the pig. Outpost Lounge- 1014 Fulton st, BKLYN.

2008-02-10T21:20:00.000-06:00

WOW I haven't posted in a long time. Ok, but I got some new stuff I wanna put up and since I've got a website and all, I can't let it look like I'm letting things slide. The buck stops here.

P.S. Mark yr calendars for MARCH 8th. We will drink yr milkshake.

2007-10-05T19:18:00.000-06:00

FRIENDS! BUY THIS T-SHIRT at Cosmodrome Design Massive !!!!
They're cheap! They're cool! Feel extra snazzy eating that banana or using that telephone. You know you want it.

2007-10-03T22:05:00.001-06:00

Http://migueljiron.com is now UP! Much tinkering & updating still need to be made, but it's finally presentable, though it's certainly debatable. Feel free to leave feedback on the comments below. My blogging skills are subpar, I know, and I'm not sure much people visit here anyways anymore, but it's always nice to hear the internet talk back.

2007-08-30T10:14:00.001-06:00

After an inert life of bumming around cafes, beaches, and bookstores for months in Buenos Aires, I'm suddenly entering full force into the working world of New York City. Well, actually, Long Island City, but y'know. As of September 4th, I will be working full time at Takashi Murakami's New York studio as a painter/studio assistant. Basically, I will be working on/doing his multi-million dollar paintings, and when they're done, Mr. Murakami will visit the studio, sign the back, and jetset away.

This new life development will hopefully add better text (and I guess pictures as well) to the blog, as the studio is, needless to say, pretty unique and intense. Yesterday, I was offered Kanye West's month-old fried chicken. See, when he visited the studio a month ago putting his album art together, he requested an order of fried chicken and doughnuts, and left most of the chicken in our fridge. I thought about it for a bit, and wondered how much the chicken would fetch for in ebay, until I inspected it closer and smelled it. I'm hoping this isn't some kind of pithy metaphor.

2007-08-15T21:18:00.000-06:00

THE GOSPEL OF DAFT PUNK
(Obligatory, though tardy, post on the amazingness
of Daft Punk's Coney Island show on August 9, 2007)

Chapter 1. ROBOT. HUMAN. TOGETHER. (End)

2007-08-07T19:09:00.000-06:00

Tim tells me of a man who has successfully changed his sleeping patterns to 20 min of sleep every 4 hours. This might be impossible, and a little masochistic (I love sleep), but the idea doesn't sound half bad.

2007-08-01T22:45:00.000-06:00

This monkey brings good news to the online Miguel world! Migueljiron.com is very close to launch, and will be operational soon. And, that is all really. I have moved back to New York, I work 9-5 for two art studio internships, live in a small green room, in greenpoint, and will probably never get rid of all the sea-green paint off my hands. It's also hot. And I'm pretty sure I got ripped off buying this lazy window fan from these sketchy polish guys. The fan though, unfortunately, is not green.

So with the heat and sudden responsible scheduling of my life (read: waking up early), sleep is hard to come by these days. But when it does happen, the dreams are a little disturbing. The latest of my ongoing deep-rooted nightmares of being plunged into a large body of water in a car involved Bill and Hilary Clinton arguing (Bill driving, Hill shotgun). I don't remember what was the dispute but it was definitely petty, vaguely Michael Scott-ish, and all of a sudden, boom, water rising. What to make of this? Especially when a few days later THIS happens. There are times when I miss my beloved CRV (R.I.P.) but these days I'm enjoying (or acclimating to) the solid, smelly ground beneath my feet.

2007-07-14T09:19:00.000-06:00

Everything happens in threes. Well, actually, I really hope not, but I seem to live consistently in three month cycles. Which explains why it feels like it's been four or so years rather than the actual one year since graduation. And also why I'm giving NY another shot. It's not as much a matter of whether it's a good idea or bad idea, rather, it's just figuring out which one's going to ultimately weigh heavier when s'all said & done.

Above is an illo for a children's book for Mott Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI, for hospital-stay kids. Doesn't that sound like the best "Wedding Crashers"-like pickup line ever? Y'know, if I was a really horrible person?

Below is leaked footage for Todd Hayne's bizzarro Bob Dylan biopic. You know, the one where Bobby Dee is played by Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Richard Gere (!?), among others and David Cross is Allen Ginsberg? Pretty tame stuff actually, considering his first film was a biopic of Karen Carpenter as portrayed by Barbie.

Cate studied Don't Look Back hard.

2007-07-07T10:12:00.000-06:00

Ratatouille! Completely restored my faith in contemporary american animation. There are few dorkier things than to act all pretentious with animation (comic books are now, like, totally legit), and I do it well. I was one of those kids who drew cartoons for friends from first grade til... well now. I always said I wanted to "draw for Disney." Now, I'm not so sure, but I do know that Brad Bird's newest film stokes those old embers. One of my favorites aspects of the film is the animating of various character's sensations of tasting good food.

Here's Michael Gagne describing his process of creating these abstract animations of swirling strawberry or popping cheese. Oskar Fischinger would be proud. (Well, maybe not.)

P.S. Anybody dabbled in silkscreening before? Got any good tips, advice, or things I should know before buying one of those dick blick kits? I don't really buy clothes anymore, so I'm figuring I should just make my own...

2007-06-26T22:09:00.000-06:00

I think the best thing about the show "Weeds" is the fact I'm seeing it with my mom, so I get to ask her questions like "so is she picking up an ounce or just a quarter?" ("Todo, hijo") or her asking me how they're smoking out of an "accordion." Now, I'm turning her onto "The Wire," with subtitles of course. After my sister putting it down more or less for good after one episode, I'm not hoping for much, but mama's showing some promise.

Please, check out this and this trailer. It should be hard to screw up a movie that has Javier Bardem reading Cormac McCarthy, or Daniel Day Lewis monologuing to a baby, but stranger things have happened. It's the '70's all over again!

P.S. That is indeed Herzog crying under those aviators, don't let him convince you otherwise.

2007-06-12T11:04:00.000-06:00

There are times where you just have a lot of time. Sometimes, these times can be used constructively, ala Mr. Dessem's blog The Criterion Contraption. Or maybe I'm just one of the few to see such an obsessive and slightly antisocial (sarcasm) venture as "constructive." Anyways, it's fun reading, and makes me wish I was this guy. Seriously, could there be a better job? Well, probably.

P.S. Speaking of time, I'm in one of those sorta non-busy states that I hope will pass. One way of dealing with this is taking a visual inventory of the family store, which means taking passable photographs of EVERY PIECE OF JEWELRY IN THE STORE. This is tedious work. But I also get to play with my dad's microscopes and his microscope lens adapter... the above image is of a blue opal, with very little color boosting. I've got to use this somehow... but how!?

2007-05-31T20:58:00.001-06:00

If you are anywhere near my age, you probably remember the countless number of one hit wonders that constituted our pop daily bread and butter back in the day. I mean, is it just me or did pop music in the early-mid 90's, before the corporate boy bands, before the manufactured teenaged girl singers , make for a really diverse breadth of styles, influences, and all around wacked out weirdness? "Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow?" "I smell sex and candy?" "I could never be your woman?" This stuff is pre AND post sanjaya.

But most importantly, these were POP songs! These are the songs you still remember the lyrics to! The songs that soundtracked your first dates! The voice cracking! Uh, etc.! This 1990's JAM mix below should either start making you smile uncontrollably ear to ear, or gag. To me, it's a little mix of both.

01. "99 Red Balloons" Nena
02. "Steal My Sunshine" Len
03. "Brimful of Asha" Cornershop
04. "How Bizarre" OMC
05. "Lovefool" Cardigans
06. "Ghetto Supastar" Pras Michel feat. Mya, ODB
07. "Your Woman" White Town
08. "Friends of P" The Rentals
09. "Sex and Candy" Marcy Playground
10. "No Rain" Blind Melon
11. "In the Meantime" Spacehog
12. "Standing Outside a Phonebooth with Money in my Hand" Primitive Radio Gods
13. "Drinking in L.A." Bran Van 3000
14. "Pepper" Butthole Surfers
15. "Peaches" Presidents of the United States of America

(As a side note, in making this list, I realized middle school nostalgia could go on forever. So, these are the true one hit wonders; not the Alanis Morseitte, the Green Day, the STP songs, etc., that seemed to be everywhere too. Also, songs like "Feel So Good" by Mase should really stay in the past. Nostalgia must be diligent.)

2007-05-30T14:29:00.000-06:00

Official Best Songs to Run to (in order):

05. "Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues" Mclusky
So this is probably the most intense song. Ever. RIP Mclusky
04. "Decepticon" Le Tigre
This really works best tailing 02, specifically sequenced by a feller named Diplo.
03. "Rock & Roll" Daft Punk
Most everything from these guys will get your blood flowing. But the brutal simplicity of this is pretty undeniable. Makes you kinda wish you were a robot. No, a Transformer. I'm pretty sure this is the sound of Optimus Prime's adrenaline. (Deyoung, where are the DP/Transformers videos?!)
02. "B.O.B." Outkast
Apart from the 5 minutes and 4 seconds of pure aural assault this song constitutes, the video features Andre 3000 running down a purple hill being chased by kids.
01. "Yeah (Crass Version)" LCD Soundsystem
If this doesn't get your pulse moving, i.e., make you want to explode in a flaming chernobyl fireball of energy, then you are probably dead. If so, sorry about being dead and all.

2007-05-04T11:06:00.000-06:00

Okay so I'm bad at updating. Will fix that. I'm back in the U.S.A. and I've got a variety of projects to work on, so hopefully this productivity will reflect back here. But for the meantime, spring(!) is blossoming and that can only mean one thing: awesome spring music. This mix is heavily indebted to O-dub, so if you don't already check out his site, you are a crazy person. Here's the tracklist:

1. "Smile ft. Wale (Mark Ronson DC remix)"-- Lily Allen
2. "Valerie ft. Amy Winehouse" -- Mark Ronson
3. "International Playa's Anthem"-- UGK ft. Outkast
4. "Mr. Big Stuff"-- Lynn Collins
5. "Kick out the Chairs"-- Munk & James Murphy
6. "D.A.N.C.E."-- Justice
7. "Ice Cream"-- Muscles
8. "The Troglodyte Wins"-- Busdriver
9. "Air"-- Clutchy Hopkins
10. "I Don't Know How"-- The Superlatives
11. "Funky Hi-Life"-- C.K. Mann
12. "Check Yo Bucket"-- Eddie Bo
13. "Peggy"-- Toots and the Maytals
14. "Crimson and Clover"-- The Uniques
15. "Bika Nzanga"-- Le Likembe Geant

2007-03-30T09:48:00.000-06:00

It has not stopped raining here for four days, and as such, being stuck in a suburb of Buenos Aires, and not actually in Buenos Aires as previously thought, I'm getting a little restless, even moreso than usual. I'm only here for another month, so I am trying to know this city as best I can. But it seems like the rainy season is upon us, and while the lightning storms over Rio Del Plata are beautiful, it limits my options here even less.

Luckily however, the last episodes of the Sopranos (!) will air in a week, and I for one am truly excited. In honor and celebration of its final return, I had to post this amazing 7 minute summary of every Sopranos season. Not only hilarious, it is alarmingly precise and revelatory. WHO knew that Job was (partly) responsible for Adriana's death? C'mon!!

2007-03-26T20:47:00.000-06:00

Check out an illustration o'mine at National Geographic Adventure. For some reason it's kinda blurry on the site, but whatev. Here's a clearer and bigger and happier version for yer eyes.

2007-03-21T09:03:00.000-06:00

Do yourself a favor and check out Sylvain Chomet's first animated short "La Viellie Dame et les Pigeons." It's 20 minutes of charming, hilarious, and pretty disturbing animation goodness.

Part Un:

Part Deux:

2007-03-07T11:45:00.000-06:00

I got a scanner for the birthday! And just cause I'm in the gifting spirit, I've got a mix for the curious and interested. If you're feeling moody instrumentals and gospel harmonies, well then, I've got your fix.

Tracklist:
01. "Melody of Love" Maggie Ingram w/ the Ingramettes
02. "Nothing Like This" J. Dilla
03. "Kaleidoscope" Peter Pan & the Good Fairies
04. "I Had a Dream" Staple Singers
05. "Walk on Gilded Splinters" Dr. John
06. "Black Panta" Lee "Scratch" Perry
07. "Chinito, Chinito" Ry Cooder
08. "Siboney (instrumental)" Xavier Cugat
09. "Umbe" Jack Mendell and his Orchestra
10. "Electric Karaoke in the Negative Style" Fujiya & Miyagi
11. "Temporary Secretary (remix)" Paul McCartney
12. "A Sentence of Sorts in Konsvinger" Of Montreal
13. "A Lifetime" Brothers of Soul
14. "This Life Makes me Wonder" Delroy Wilson
15. "I've Been Lonely For So Long" B'Ham Rhythm Section
16. "Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death (Scott Niblett cover)" Jens Lekman

2007-02-28T17:58:00.000-06:00

Amigos! Sorry this blog has been a ghost lately. My scanner's broke, and I don't really have much things to scan into it anyways. I am remedying the situation(s). As an update, this will be poor, but I will say that Argentina is awesome blah blah blah great. I'm trying hard not to atrophy from this aimless wandering life, and am working hard on paintings and comic books. I need structure. I read this quote which rung true: "When you travel, your first discovery is that you do not exist." That's what blogs are for, damnit.

P.S. Psst! Out of print (and in print) Salinger! Shhh! (Print & read at your leisure.)

2007-02-02T15:39:00.000-06:00

As our character Field is about to plunge into the South American unknown, so am I, this Monday. I have no idea what to expect. Only that I still want to be in school, and this will afford me the time to focus, perhaps theoretically aid me... and it's Buenos Aires. Why not, right? And speaking of Field, I'm going to work on more pages on this comic and start another while I'm there too. If anxiety is just "excitement transformed," then consider me ecstatic.

2007-01-18T17:37:00.000-06:00

A simple link that will change your life, or at the very least dominate your procrastination time indefinitely (which, face it, IS your life): http://yourtvlinks.com. You're welcome.

2007-01-16T10:33:00.000-06:00

Friends, check out my last comissioned illustration for Stylus. The subjects don't really turn out to mirror Stylus' actual best of list... eh. I did what I was told. (I can post images real big now!)

2007-01-08T16:31:00.000-06:00

Happy New Years invisible readers! This link up here is the culmination of a lot of effort, sweat, tears, anxiety attacks, defeated resignations, and finally, oranges (thanks, T)... not to mention a lot of years. It's finally presentable to the public-- sure there are many tweaks and changes that need to be made, but at least it's coherent... well, as far as this kind of cartoon actually can be coherent. It's a silly absurd cartoon, a one note kind of idea, that ended up devouring a lot of the past three years of my life! So, here's to elephants, babies, and rats-- hope you enjoy it.

Oh, and p.s. I'd recommend opening it up in its own proper youtube window-- as embedded in the blog it's a bit choppy... just sayin'.

2006-12-20T15:00:00.000-06:00

I'm back in Baton Rouge, and I figured I'd give a li'l update on what's going on right now. I am moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina in February, which means I will be spending my last days in Brooklyn in January! I don't particularly want to move OUT of Brooklyn, but I really do want to move IN to Buenos Aires, so, Brooklyn, I'll be back... someday. I've got a free ticket & rent, with space for a studio, so I'm gonna work on my portfolio for grad school (California?) and refocus, take a breather. Figure out exactly what I want to do, and where. I love NY, but you're breaking my back and the timing's not right. As in, I don't have the money or the job to deal with you. And I can certainly deal with 5 dollar steak and wine meals. So, please! Visit me! Yes, the ticket might be expensive, but I'll have a nice setup for at least til the end of the summer of 07. After that-- maybe one of the two grad schools I'm applying to right now will smile and favor me, but I'm not expecting much.

Also-- the animation project is almost done! Yes, done!! Almost!! I'd still like to give it to Spencer or a professional sound designer, but it's got a pretty amazing temp track to it right now, and Nate and I have (well, really Nate) tweaked, re-edited, and polished the compositing so it looks pretty slick now. I will youtube it when I get the chance, unleash it to the public... FINALLY.

Anyways, these images are prints from Bill Cass' Intaglio class. I'm feeling particularly nostalgic for Denmark and certain people from that time, and the sad man above is my farewell to Brooklyn, ha. Oh, and I'll post some more youtube animation goodness soon, happy holidays people.

2006-12-11T09:57:00.000-06:00

Dear friends,
Check out my illustrations at stylusmagazine.com, with a new one to come each week for the rest of December. Feel free to comment and let me know how much Nelly Furtado really doesn't look that much like Nelly Furtado, or how Marie Antoinette totally blows and shouldn't be on the top movie list illo. Check it!

PS The image above is phase two of a giant lindsay lohan poster collage that Nate DeYoung and myself are breaking our backs and knees over. "Ol' Firecrotch" should be done soon!

2006-12-08T15:19:00.000-06:00

YOUTUBED ENABLED ANIMATION GOODNESS PT. TWO

Here are some French & North African animated commercials from the '50's... more to come later!

2006-12-04T13:21:00.000-06:00

YOUTUBE ENABLED ANIMATION GOODNESS

"PEE-NUT" by PES. Here's my other favorite of theirs, which I am admittedly embarrassed to embed directly on my blog (wear headphones on the link).

"Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club music vid-- designed by James Rizzi, directed by Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel. James Brown dancing at 2:33 is not to be missed.

"Fast Film" by Virgil Widrich. I'm trying to temper my hyperbole here, but this 13 minute short really is amazing. Make sure to watch all of it, trust me, it gets only better. Happy Holidays!

2006-11-30T15:05:00.000-06:00

Some sketches from Boundary Waters trip August 2006 (finally posted). Max's great poem not included. This post is also dedicated to my poor, beloved C.R.V. May she rest in pieces.

2006-11-17T15:57:00.000-06:00

Apparently, New York hates me & my ears. I now have "myringitis" in my right ear (the other one), which basically is an irritated ear drum making everything around it, including my balance, unhappy. So if you see me on the ground somewhere, please lend an arm and hoist me up, and I'll thank you.

At least Ghostface is now officially my myspace friend. And this is, sorry again to use the hyperbole, is mindblowingly amazingly great!

2006-11-14T20:53:00.000-06:00

So all these caricature-portraits were done for Stylus Magazine's end of the year Best Of lists (films, singles, albums)-- be sure to check out the final illustrations when they go up at the end of the year!

Ps. This is mindblowingly awesome (via Shurpa).

2006-11-09T23:46:00.000-06:00

this

& this

were really good. And in other news, being employed in NYC is overrated. Screw you Conde Nast, I'm no cartographer. Sigh. Buenos Aires is looking more 'n' more appealing by the second. However, some good news is that a Chinatown doctor restored most of my hearing back! Yay! And I've got some illustration work going on! (Except it's all pro bono.) Meh!

Oh and here's some Rapture + animation sweet goodness, in a Yellow Submarine/graffiti sorta way (read: awesome).

2006-11-05T13:22:00.000-06:00

So I'm kinda deaf in one ear now, I have a "oh yeah, that's pretty bad" (doctor's words quote unquote) ear infection, like I was seven years old. I was never a sickly kid and this is the second time I've ever had an ear infection, but man. Getting ill is unpleasant. The NYM hospital over here is like a bureaucratic nightmare, but creepy, where you run in circles to find the walk-in emergency room, finally find it, need to get directed to the triage, find the triage, fill out a form, get it punched, and then slip it to a little slit on a windowless door on an imposing wall, where then you wait to get reviewed, and then upon said review, move into the second circle of waiting, to finally be summoned to a hospital bed, and THEN wait again for the doctor to curtly diagnose you and give you paperwork.

So when you're waking up after a party to grab some aleve, head pounding and half of your hearing gone, finding the New York Marathon in full swing right on your street is a pretty arresting experience. This city never ceases to surprise and amaze.

P.S. the illo above was comissioned by Mr. Eddy over at FierceGameBiz. Not published yet, it's gotten 886 hits in two days at my Flickr site. Not a gamer myself, this floors me, this kind of intense anticipation. Whatever, I just better be getting me a free Wii out of the deal (ahem, Mr. Eddy).

2006-10-31T11:59:00.000-06:00

Trick...

or Treat?

To be honest, I think it could go either way.

2006-10-28T18:27:00.000-06:00

Fingers tightly crossed for a job here! Will say nothing more of it. I'm superstitious, I can't help it, I got it from mama. What I will say, is that this guy is awesome. And that this, is fascinating and heartbreaking. Dumbo is my favorite Disney animated movie, though can anybody really see that "Baby Mine" scene and not burst into tears? Ahh, those elephants get me everytime.

2006-10-14T18:54:00.000-06:00

I've spent exactly 34 hours of my New York existence watching HBO's The Wire. That could seem like a very sad statement, and y'know, it is, but I like to see it more as faithful, attentative devotion. And hey, if Alex Kolowitz digs it as much as I do, then I at least have some sort of excuse.

In other, more productive news, Jen, Tom Lee, Pedro and I seem to be starting a design firm for musicians. Yep. I don't know lickety-split about bidnezz, but it seems like this could be a lot of fun. So, if you're in a band (of any kind), and need a kickass cd cover, poster, stickers, temp tatts, etc. etc. let US know! Also, if you are a whiz at Illustrator, let me know that too.

2006-10-07T14:21:00.000-06:00

Sooo... not sure how long I will be staying in New York anymore. My boss who hired me left the company to start another one... though this other one has even more questionable questions and unsure backing. I don't want to leave, but I also don't want to be another of those living-off-daddy's-and-mommy's-money-in-the-big-city kids. No offense meant, in fact most of my good friends belong to the very same category, but it is something that makes me more anxious and restless than I usually am (and I usually am anxious and restless). Find me a cool job? Please? I'll be your best friend.

2006-09-21T13:10:00.000-05:00

Around 3:30 a.m., under mild insomnia & general ache from an extended hangover, I started hearing an insistent yet quiet sssssszzzzzhhting sound. I investigated and found the ssssszzzzzhhting was coming out of the window; a kid was tagging the wall of my building! I almost wanted to say something, so I could join, but I figure it would be taken the wrong way, and I could end up scaring him away, or probably getting myself shot. However, his tag was "MOOSE!," so in hindsight, I think he wouldn't have minded.

2006-09-19T12:10:00.000-05:00

Boom! Another post. This is a detail of an oil pastel thing (oil pastel= way underrated) I did last night. It's dedicated to Eileen, Sarahmaria and Zach, off a drunken late night picture from one 809 Noyes party, who knows which one. Just a little exercise to get into a groove. Groove been interrupted by deflating air mattressess, hungover days, visiting good friends, and also that trying-to-find-a-job thing. I'm trying not to be too much of a hermit, but it kinda goes with what I need to be doing here... it's not like I commute to Times Square for work (!) and talk to jazz musicians or Antartic explorers and bump into Jay-Z (unlike some friends). Speaking of which, my celebrity sighting here is a grand total of ZERO and I feel, like, so lame. Alex Mack was supposed to come to a shingdig here the other night, but I had too much JD and wouldn't even've remembered if she did. College is apparently not over til I say so.

2006-09-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

What up! Does anybody check this site anymore? Well, if you do, I plan on updating this thing more on a regular schedule, as now that I've moved into The Big City, I'm a bit more receptive on entertaining my thoughts/art innerwards and internetwards... I guess. Big city, lots to digest, lots and lots of everything. Anyways, these are some illys I did for UJI (United Jazz International), which is a new company that promises revolution!, so we'll see how that pans out. NYC is great, NYC is intense, I sleep on the floor, the ground rumbles and shakes, I wake up sore and hungover. I think I can get used to living here, so maybe you can give me a steady job?

2006-06-07T01:19:00.000-05:00

2006-02-25T18:29:00.000-06:00

2006-01-22T14:08:00.000-06:00

2005-12-16T21:44:00.000-06:00

And so I passed my animation class, and I now have, finally, an "advanced rough cut" (the best and really only way I can describe it). This is the best and only way to describe it because, to have gotten to this point, it is the combined effort of roughly three people over 10 months of straight work (a year and a half alltogether, with a few distractions in between, and not always disciplined)... so I think needless to say it's a huge landmark to reach (thus, the "advanced" bit). But, as always, it still needs tinkering, including a little thing called sound, hence the "rough" bit of the term. I'm happy about where its at though, as happy as one can get towards an unfinished project, and am willing to show it to anyone interested or curious, as I finally have something hefty to show for a year and half's worth of effort.

So I guess consider this site dead for a while, as I'm not gonna want to do anything animation-related for a looooooooong long long time. I really want to pimp the hell out of this but I guess all in due time, or at least til I forget about it all again! Til then, g'bye

2005-11-11T19:31:00.000-06:00

2005-11-04T12:11:00.000-06:00

an update for those curious: the animation WILL be done by december 8th. so this means a) i am effectively giving up the rest of the quarter (like i haven't done so already) and the entire month of november to devote thyself unto this sucker b) i might die in the process. but! it will be done by december. if i could figure out how to post quicktime movies/ find server space i would.

2005-10-31T00:20:00.000-06:00

Old Denmark Photos

2005-10-04T22:38:00.000-06:00

Okay, since its absolutely ungoogleble and thus, nonexistent, here's at least a half a guitar tab for "Heartbeat" by Annie:

Verse: F#m D Bm C#m (bass step line on low E: 4^0 [open])

And for the chorus... I still don't know yet. Hits a G bass note, but I get too distracted by everything else in the song to make sense of those sweet delicious chords. But here it is, twice for emphasis and Google sensors: "Heartbeat" Annie guitar tab (verse, that is).

2005-09-29T15:38:00.000-05:00

Some zen to think about:

1. The Road Runner cannot harm the coyote except by going "Meep-Meep!"
2. No outside force can harm the coyote—only his own ineptitude or the failure of the Acme products.
3. The coyote can stop any time—if he were not a fanatic. (Repeat: "A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim."–George Santayana)
4. There may be no dialogue ever, except "beep-beep!" The coyote may, however, speak to the audience through wooden signs that he holds up.
5. The Road Runner must stay on the road —otherwise, logically, he would not be called "Road Runner".
6. All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters—the southwest American desert.
7. All materials, tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme Corporation.
8. Whenever possible, gravity should be made the coyote's greatest enemy.
9. The coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.

2005-09-12T00:51:00.000-05:00

2005-08-28T17:38:00.000-05:00

2005-08-28T17:01:00.000-05:00

2005-08-09T02:01:00.000-05:00

I figured this might happen, but not ever at such an odd time. I literally ache sometimes thinking about my experience abroad, and how much I truly miss some places and people. It makes me want to roll around in cliches, about how really unique a time it was, how I might never have some of those feelings again, etc etc. Half the experience going abroad is what happens months afterwards, when it's all faded and Evanston again, and suddenly you get the most vivid flashbacks of Italy, strawberry gilato and cigarettes. Or snowy bus trips through Danish countryside, rambling conversations and wet jackets. Geez, I may never get over this whole restlessness thing.

2005-08-07T16:56:00.000-05:00

I'm gonna need a big slap in the face soon if this summer schedule keeps up, with the animation suffering and all, but now, with andy gone, I can be super-diligent and disciplined, right? eh? Ah well, time to finally start putting things together.

2005-08-02T21:11:00.000-05:00

Everybody's slowly leaving, one by one, which I guess is good since I need the time to really work, but still. And Ben's already left! I couldn't believe it; this summer is really out of control. I'll be leaving too- I'll be in BR sometime mid-August. Is it weird that I'm most looking forward to the bountiful southern AC than anything else?

2005-07-27T15:14:00.000-05:00

2005-07-26T22:25:00.000-05:00

Just kiddin'.

After an unfortunate accident, a new scanner had to be found. It's a monster.

2005-07-25T17:18:00.000-05:00

SCANNER BROKEN (BEING REPLACED), & NO MORE CLASSES

Part 1:
As Guy Debord details in didactics through 221 theses, the Spectacle is an all encompassing and consuming power structure of mediated images, and consequently mediated relationships, imposed on today’s society where the artificial is favored over the real. In his book, The Society of the Spectacular, Debord describes that everything that was once “directly lived,” is now a desensitized collection of manipulative images, a multitude of half-truths, that is constantly bombarding us through every TV show and billboard advertisement we see. Written in 1967, it is alarmingly prophetic in anticipating how mass media still continues to influence us more and more, and has led to some very interesting cultural developments.
Modern day sampling and postmodern pastiche, specifically in pop and hip-hop music today seems to embody a strange permutation of the spectacle, simultaneously an adverse reaction and full acceptance of the spectacle. Subtly encouraging copyright theft through sampling and available technology, yet at the same time serving as a full example of this disconnecting “false consciousness” pastiche the spectacle represents, modern and contemporary pop and hip-hop is at a strange crossroads. With the future of digital music still in question, with DRM restrictions and p2p networks still thriving, modern pop, through its similar schizophrenic and cut’n’paste aesthetic (for example, Jessica Simpson’s newest single “These Boots are Made for Walkin’”), seems to be encouraging its own death. With music growing less and less controlled by big business and more liberated through individual means, the most popular music now is the most schizophrenic, cutting and pasting across genres with a click of the mouse. When music becomes less of a commodity and object of commerce through mixtapes and mashups, hijacked and disseminated through filesharing and DJing, is the music further perpetuating the spectacle or finally breaking it? By breaking away from big studio control and using digital technology to spread and bypass capitalism, does it break away from the spectacle or become a further refracted reflection of artifce?
The interesting aspect about today’s means and mediums through which music is consumed and made is that now, more than ever, music has a certain whispered type of liberation, ushered and broken free by the mp3. The standard rock ‘n’ roll Holy Grail of a record contract is slowly becoming a relic of a long gone past, the once imposing and looming capital border for the music dream. For a savvy googler who’s convinced piracy doesn’t fund terrorism, or for the rich suburban kid with some cash to burn, making and experiencing music is now an easy and incredibly affordable venture; who needs to spend hundreds of dollars a day in a studio for weeks when musicians can now create “bedroom masterpieces?”
Thus, the border between artistic ambition and commercial capital is suddenly disrupted. The proletariat no longer needs to plead to the bourgeoisie to fulfill their dream… the musician in question can skip the whole mechanized bureaucratic assembly style process of today’s music studios and can truly create something of their own, for themselves. The satisfaction of a work done completely and not mechanized into spare parts, like calling in a session drummer, is something wildly tangible. Not even in musical powerhouses like Motown did the possibility of creating a complete individual product exist. In addition to the fact that Motown employed a regular in house session music group to fill in any pop song where it was needed (the earliest example being the “Swinging Tigers”), a popular myth concerning one of their earliest hits, “Money”, by Barrett Strong, goes as such: Berry Gordy, tired and frustrated at the end of the day, started humming a little ditty, and along with his secretary, made up the song at the spot. Immediately, they grabbed Barrett Strong from the studio and two random kids passing by on the street; Strong sang, and the two random kids played bass and drums and left shortly thereafter, leaving an anonymous contribution to one of the biggest pop songs of all time.

Tomorrow: more talking about what I have no idea about.

2005-07-15T14:21:00.000-05:00

Just a little something to keep things at least semi-alive around here! Summer is, of course, flying by way too quickly, but what can you do. Big decisions to make as well; I might be moving to Nicaragua right after graduation for about a year or so for a documentary. But I dunno, it's all tentative, and I have to thinkthinkthink, and depending on where that gets me, I'll have to get busybusybusy. But no future talk, as long as the present's so pressing. With the end of basic painting, this baby's gonna pick up full steam, no, really, seriously, like, you should get out of its way, 'cause, like, this force, this force, has a lotta power, make me feel like... make me feel like...

2005-06-28T01:19:00.000-05:00

I think it's finally got a title, if it at least tentative, and things are getting all greased up. The summer's been amazingly summer so far, and I can't complain. Nothing really amazing to report here, just really an excuse to show you a pink picture of a Rhino! (Also being the first image done with my new wacom intuos tablet! Cool, eh?)

Also, this is very cool. Makes you want to bust out those DVDS on a Saturday morning, only except for the whole "morning" part.

2005-06-20T21:35:00.000-05:00

Here's an illustration for a zine and possibly for use for the major grant in the fall. Oil pastel's fun, but I can't scan the other big one that I could send too, and I'm not finished with the other other one. Animation stuff coming soon, I swear it!

2005-06-04T17:24:00.000-05:00

I still half-expect to wake up at least six different places every morning (or well afternoon) and, its true, reverse culture shock is a strange thing. And I still really haven't gotten over the whole jet-lag thing-- the schedule in Evanston last week was a doozy and now in BR, with exactly 1/5 of the house under construction, there's 0% chance of sleep past 8am. Schizer!

But its summer! So, this will no longer be Danish Seismograph but instead Animation Seismograph (or something lame-sounding like that). After our epic roadtrip of the Nicaraguan titans, I'll be toiling away in Evanston and finally trying to finish this damn thing (it gets a little tiring when everybody laughs when you say that you're still working on the same project from last year). So, from now on, this site'll be a sorta "plog" of sorts, production blog, and when I get the time, I'll be posting updates and coolish images from the project. And its way past time by now for some kinda title other than the dubious sounding "animation project." Any suggestions for a 2 min short involving 50's suburbia and stubborn dangerous pilot elephants?

I've got a lot of pics from the last week in Denmark and from Evanston & Dillo Day and some from BR, but if you want to see them, just ask me, I'm too lazy to post. But I really like this pic of Ryan, Max, and Andy a lot, though I wish Ryan wasn't dancing as quickly as he was, crazy fool. So, until later, its some more illustrations and pieces and a whole lot of inbetweening, yeesh. Stay tuned!

2005-05-10T05:48:00.000-05:00

Here we go: another batch of pictures for yer feastin' eyes. These are some scans of my Russian and Italian Extravaganza, though mostly Russian. Like I said earlier, my St. Basil's sketch was featured on moleskinerie.com so check it, yo.

I have many sketches of Russian architecture, as it was the cool thing for all the archy kids to do for their classes. So whenever they whipped out the sketchbooks, I felt more comfortable doing whatever they did. It was a little strange being amongst such drawing company... I can't say I've ever really had that experience before, which was very, very odd for me to realize. If grad school (and, well, just say "general future" most likely) will be anything like how it was in Russia, people are going to be fuckin' moody. And that's cool... i guess... but it definitely gave a... competitive? tense kind of atmosphere that I have never before associated with drawing. Long ways from Mrs. Manno's class (shudder)...

Oh, and another thing about drawing in Russia, it was COLD. So, by the time I got to the major tower in St. Basil's, my fingers refused to move. But I had a ballet to attend to at the Bolshoi anyway (hwya hwya). Oh yeah, in all my complaining about the Red Country, I often forget to mention my highlight of it: the ballets and the operas. Saw Mazeppa by Tchaikovsky, Midsummer Night's Dream (ballet) directed by John Neiumeier, and a bunch of experimental modern dance shorts, in the Bolshoi in Moscow and the Kirov (sp?) in St. Petersburg... they were, in a word, amazing. And I do, uh, have sketches of those world famous theaters, but I'm lazy.

I drew considerably less in Capri, but I guess that makes sense. Whereas Russia became mindnumbing in the cold, the unrelentless schedules, and the dead air during tours, drawing was much more needed. But in Capri, I at least managed to get a detailed sketch with, like, shadows and stuff!

Ok, and here are just some random scans of doodling in class.

Our good ol' friend, Professor Warmind. Sometimes irrelevant, tedious, but always entertaining and big as a giant.

Aaand I'm tired of linking. Saw Kingdom of Heaven today with some friends and it was deliciously nice watching a film again in a theater! Especially since we were all basically closet movie geeks. Geek as in, I'd be like talking about how cool a movie is going to be, then Jordan goes all "Yeah I read the script when I was photocopying copies for the office. It was pretty good." Brought back warm fuzzy film school memories... though those may be made up. Oh, and too bad the movie sucked too. Just okay.

Schedule's looking real nice for the fall too: Computer Animation, Advanced Drawing, Film Noir, and an interesting communication in relationships comm course (bullshit distro), or maybe a printmaking class. Whoooo knows. Oh, and, after this morning, ham and artichokes will never be the same. You don't want to know.

2005-05-04T05:42:00.000-05:00

I'm FAMOUS! Haha, well, no, not really, not at all, but check it out anyway: got me a drawing featured on Moleskinerie.com that you can check right here. Didnt' have the time to write up a paragraph or two about it as Armand requested, but it's up there anyway. I'll post some other sketches soon here but a rendevous in DIS awaits me.

2005-05-01T07:45:00.000-05:00

I have apparently become the official ghost of alberstlund, because while it might seem I'm here all the time, I apparently vanish "from all human sight, guy"-- as when I decided fairly last minute-ish to ditch Denmark and head to the land of William Wallace, Haggis, Hairy Coos, and Emily and Annie of course. (Oh and in other news I'm also known here as the official wine guy here in my block. Everybody knows that if I have alcohol here, its wine, and I got asked by several different people this weekend for a wine opener- "How did you know I had a wine opener?" "...Duh.")

Not too many Scot pics, as I kept forgetting it in St. Andrews with Emily and by the time I got to Stirling the poor thing was on its dying gasps. Likewise, I had little time to bust out the sketchbook as Scotland was all go-go-go; spending two nights per city made things fly by at a neckbreaking pace. I love this picture of Emily; the colors just pop and it looks like she's in Hogwarts, because mainly she is. That robe isn't hers cause she's not a full year student but all students have robes and the whole place has a very old and charming air about it-- it's the fourth oldest academic institution in Europe if I remember right.

Her experiences lately kinda put my bitching and stress in perspective-- I think I would die or quit school if I went to St. Andrews (and especially if i was a TRUMAN SCHOLARSHIP WINNER, haha). Chilling with Emily was really relaxing, as all we did was basically talk about life, studying abroad, futures, all in dorm rooms, in cemetaries, castles, beaches, and of course, golf courses. Until she left me in this dark hole:

And then all of a sudden I was on a bus to Stirling, at which point the entire flow of the trip changed.

Considering it had been a little less than a month since we've had our Italian Extravaganza, little time was spent on introductions and we cut right to the chase, so to speak. I met Kevin who was incredibly cool and ended up babysitting me basically for most of the trip as Annie had to compensate for her slackerness (ha!). Where St. A's was quiet and deep talk, Stirling was hikes, smoke, vodka, whiskey, cheerleader luau parties, a girl who has LIVED in Nicaragua, nakedness, killer swans, soccer stealing, soul jazz records, beard trimming, and ungoldy amount of fish 'n' chips. In fact, until right now, I've remembered very little about it.

I was blown away how gorgeous it was when I visited-- supposedly it was the best weather they had in months, right in time for St. George's Day. Trees looked this pink everywhere I went, and the bus ride to Stirling made me even give a little prayer of thanks. I wasn't expecting the Scottish countryside to be as beautiful as it was-- and for some reason it never occurred to me to take a picture on the bus. I guess that's a good sign.

I saw Braveheart last night on TV with Johnson and another Cameroonian friend, along with Rob. Shared my wine with everybody, and I realized that I'm gonna miss a lot about this place. It sounds weird and little, but I'm gonna miss how Johnson's friend kept reacting to the movie- whooping and hollering and gasping- I guess just the different reactions and little idiosyncrincies that are harder to see in the states. But I probably won't miss waking up at 7am because of another brawl outside my room. Albertslund really can be ghetto sometimes.

2005-04-26T14:53:00.000-05:00

Expect more activity here in the coming days (probably). Whatever I said before break about struggling with motivation is only a memory; I now simply have none. So when I'm late for class on the S-Toget, I'm like "I really want a 7-11 croissant before class." And when I'm typing here- it's only because I have two papers that were due Monday that I may or may not get to tonight. Ahhh yes.

Legoland either was gonna be terribly underwhelming or incredibly wonderful. Good that it turned out to be the latter-- here are some fancy pics:

Ok, one thing you should know about Copenhagen, no, just Denmark in general, is that the Danes here LOVE Hans Christian Andersen. And not just LOVE with capital letters- literally this guy is everywhere and I swear if I hear another speech about Denmark's greatest ambassador I'm gonna mermaid their ugly duckling. It was cute at first, then tiring after a while, and now he's more ubitquitous than Wal-Mart. Doesn't his face look crrreeeepy in lego?

Also, never trust a lego rabbit.

It's not all fun and games in Legoland, I tell you.

Haha, this was a ride where you could program exactly what you wanted a gigantic robotic arm to do. I was regretting programming my ride on level 4 out of 5, so my friends were like "go with this girl! She got 5!" So I was like "Hi, nice to meet you, where you're from?" as we're spun, flipped, corkscrewed, tossed, swung, and sommersaulted into whatever this girl wanted it to do. It was fun, though a little strange-- out of context that picture above could be sadistic and dubious at best.

Only a few more weeks out of this whole "study abroad" experience and of course it's mixed feelings at best. To be honest I can't wait for school to be over, I'm ready to move on, but how's it gonna be back in the stomping grounds with no one to relate with about these past five months? Or was it four?

I'll be a-posting more stuff soon-- I've got my Scotland pics which is want I really wanna share. Until then, it's time to divert my procrastination somewhere else!

2005-04-16T12:43:00.000-05:00

It happens everytime, without fail, and now surprisingly in international territory: no matter what, the end of any academic term for me comes excruciatingly slow and painful in despair (or, well, as far as despair goes, Kierkegaard would say, my self is not in terms with itself). I get restless easy and I'm already ready to move on, even though Copenhagen's getting crazier and better. But it's old hat now. Isn't that terrible? I can't get my mind anywhere near to where my body's physically at. So, in that spirit, here's the summer:

*Basic Painting: Tu/Th 9:30-4:00
*Film/TV Genre: History of Punk: M/W 3:00-5:30
*Italian Rennasiance: M/W 6:30-9:00

And I just did it, reacquainted with Caesar again (for what seems like a long time) so it's definitely official: I'll be in Evanston at the very least from June 22nd-August 8th. I'm getting all antsy in my pantsy just thinking about Chicago and Evanston in the summer again. I hope plans didn't go all out of whack and there'll be plenty of friends around in the area, now I gotta find housing, though summer sublets aren't the most difficult things to find...

Legoland tomorrow, Scotland in three days, then school for a little less than a month, and hopefully another trip squeezed in. Not too shabby I guess. But I still miss Italy...

2005-04-11T14:48:00.000-05:00

you're so vain

here's a (kinda) good picture of mah beard. I guess it was finally getting some color on my skin that made everybody go "whoah! hey you grew something there, bud!" though it was pretty much the same the same length and color before i left for the break. i can't believe some people actually thought i dyed my facial hair (it's the new fad, go tell everybody), but then i showed them my blonde spot and they all went "ooohhh."

and to keep in the spirit of things here and to alleviate my heavy post spring break blues, i'm going to SCOTLAND! i'll be visiting emily for a couple of days and then annie and i have some unfinished business to attend to (that'll turn out to be a lot easier to finish in sterling than some places). and i am quite proud of myself for getting such a good price for the trip in such short notice (i'm basically leaving in a week), kinda makes up for a summer stateside (hopefully along with another trip in may, possibly to madrid again!)...

which brings me to another important news bulletin! I'll most likely be taking summer classes in NU so that means
a) i'll be spending most of the summer in evanston (yay for friends)
b) it looks like i won't be having much time to travel here after classes (sucky)
c) no job at sound and sight! which means only thing to me: animation! no, seriously, i swear...

that's it for now. drank way too many beers yesterday for the biggest danish rivalry and grudge match of the year: FCK vs. Brondby! FCK pummeled them black and blue, and a good time was had by all. and it's getting warmer here everyday...

2005-04-06T05:43:00.000-06:00

I got about 400 pics out of this whole experience; obviously I'm not gonna put 'em all here-- a few more are on my Flickr pages, most I don't have the space to upload them, and a lot of good ones should be up once Annie puts 'em up! But without further ado, here's a small sampling of Italy:

One thing that made Capri so relaxing and amazing was that the people we hung out with turned out to be really chill and fun to hang around... I sometimes have the problem of being too absorbed in the socialness of things and thus feeling shortchanged of the whole "experience"... like I'm too worried about the bullshit of smalltalk and "being cool" with the kids (the way I see most kids studying abroad are) than actually looking outside and absorbing and experiencing the whole situation around you. I felt this way constantly in Russia, but in Italy, we just had fun with each other and around us-- good group.

And everything in Italy was green. GREEN. Amazingly green. Everything in Russia was dirty. Italy was green.

One of my favorite pics of Annie. Our ridge/church apartment is gonna rock righteously.

We had a livestock experience quota to meet each day. We only made it to three days, but we touched a sheep and befriended some goats!

Oh God. We were bums for most of the trip (sleeping on the beach, loitering as a lifestyle), but we fancied up in public toilets and made sure we ate right. Do you see that pizza? I could cry thinking about how good that pizza was. So good that with wine and hours to kill, by the end of that pizza, we were talking wistfully of long lost loves and future dreams. Yeah. That pizza was unbelievable.

As shocked as I was to find that Russians really do wear fuzzy hats and are mean, I couldn't believe that the Italians we met really did say "MAma MIa!" and talked loudly and passionately about everything. Weirdly, it made things more surreal than familiar.

We sat on a grassy knoll by this castle, where I read about MF Doom and Annie tried to get more sun. This was one of the few picturesque parts of Napoli... other than their pizza.

What we had to do to chill wine.

What we had to do after chilling the wine.

Someday, I have to come back to Sicily, rent a scooter vespa thing, and drive down all this sicilian countryside myself with a trusty comrade. One of the most beautiful and incredible places I've ever seen... needless to say, I've got the post spring break blues (but that might be exaggerating a bit, cause Copenhagen's never been better). Once I get space again on Flickr, I'll try to post the sketches I did during the trips (hooray for drawing on a regular basis again). I've got only a month and a half left of classes, but I really want to travel around some more... if only I can find some fellow backpackers and some $$$ of course-- we shall see...

"Ciao bello"

2005-04-04T01:28:00.000-06:00

Spring Break!

So, like I said, I got my sister's digital camera and snapped up a wheeheezy of pics to share from all over the place. I'm exhausted but envigorated at the same time, a very alive kind of tired, and the only thing I really wanna do is go back to Italy and keep backpacking. I love Copenhagen and all, but I'm gonna need a day of adjustment, as you'll see...

But first, ROSSIA. (This is gonna be a pretty long post, if you wanna just go straight to the pictures' source in Flickr click here and here.)

Some observations about Moscow: everybody made such a big deal how completely different Russia is from everything else, totally alien, but I thought it was all bogus. Yes, I probably have never felt farther from home, and with the heavy and low grey skies I really felt like I was near the end of the world. But it seemed to me like every other sprawling industrial messy city, just a whole less inviting than say, Caracas or something. Every other billboard is the Marlboro Man (that's where he went), or either a Samsung ad. Slumlike apartment complexes stand dirty and unkept for everywhere, and its only in pockets do you see a true beauty... but it just made it seemed more random than awe-inspiring. Yes, the Kremlin was amazing, and the Red Square surreal, but doesn't St. Basil's Cathedral look like Disneyworld to you? We couldn't get over how plastic it looked, as if in a 1000 years, Cinderella's castle in Orlando will be dug up and be deemed one of the wonders of the world, with Mickey Mouse our most revered king or god...

Yeah, so that's pretty much how you would picture Russia would be, and that's pretty much what you get. I couldn't get over the fact that Russians actually DO wear big fuzzy fur hats! All the time! And, also, Russians ARE rude and the most uninviting people I have ever met... I never saw a Russian smile or tell a joke.

The water is so bad there, they actually do recommend you to brush your teeth in vodka. This was also around the time where I slipped on the ice (my FIRST time this winter I promise!) and gashed my right pinky. It bled like crazy, and I kept cutting my hands so I left Russia with bandanged fingers. Still looks kinda nasty...

We got SO lost in here, all of us seperated into tinier and tinier groups. We literally could not for the life of us figure out our way to our entrance, and it took 45 minutes to get to the bus! Like most everything in Russia, everything seemed to be a hassle to do...

We stayed in HOTEL ROSSIA which is the biggest hotel I have ever seen, housing a supposed 5000 guests at any given time. It literally took 20 minutes from the nearest entrance to the door of my room, and it reminded me of a bad Hunter s. Thompson/ Terry Gilliam mindtrip, passing by small bars and smoking areas of huge cigar chewing businessmen, old russian hookers, small mousey bartenders, garish and loud colors, and terrible russian pop songs. Just to get to my room. There were also statues of pirates near the west gate.

Also, I wasn't expecting the whole trip to be as touristy as it was, but it wasn't exactly like I was feeling frisky and wanting to go off the beaten path. Each day was swamped in tourist traps, which got tiring and annoying after a while, with bus tours and droning guides, but it was ok. I have never felt more paranoid and unsafe, with all the stories they tell (like, stories that happened last week), with the police being the most corrupt of them ALL. Yep, that was Moscow in a sketch...

St. Petersburg

Speaking of sketches, ran out of batteries in my camera eventually and kept forgetting to recharge. So, thankfully, there were many architecture friends that had to sketch all the time anyway, making me feel less dumb and show-offy carrying a sketchbook around. I'll upload these sometime later, they're a lot, but this is getting long enough...

St. Petersburg was a lot prettier and nicer than Moscow, it being a more European city and resembling Venice bizarrely at times. Good times.

But it got annoying after about the 18756th russian palace we would see, seeming to say once again that, boy, Russian royalty sure had a lotta money. Gold plated EVERYTHING, while thousands of their countrymen died from starvation... there's only so much palaces you can see without thinking about these things, you know?

Ah, the Crimson Coach. Remember middle school fieldtrips, shuffling in and out of the bus, and all that business? That pretty much was our trip, with bus culture and everything. Russia was an amazing place to go to, really a once in a lifetime experience, and I'm 100% glad I went, but I'm also pretty glad in knowing that I probably will never be there again. The kids were cool, most of them I didn't know previously, some sights were insane, but it feels like the whole world is just... stuck there, the only thing bringing it all together is an incredible history. Otherwise, it's just a sad outpost of life of depressed people and fried food, absorbing all the worst aspects of globalization and none of its better ones (the 2nd largest mcdonalds in the world!! in the heart of moscow! definitive proof that Russia lost the Cold War). After being lost in St. Petersburg scary slums, a friend and I basically praying for our lives in a van from the early 80's in the middle of nowhere, I was ready to leave, and needed a definite change. Thus...

ITALY! Spring Break pt. 2 coming soon, maybe tomorrow...

P.S. Oh! And I almost completely forgot: not all Russians were awful, as this photograph attests, being one of my favorite pictures of all time. His name was Valentin and had been doing photography for 30 years... we talked about how he set his basement darkroom and his family and his craft, he was so cool. So cool he let me take a picture of him dancing in front of his stand. Valentin is badass.

2005-03-13T18:20:00.000-06:00

A Quick Note to say a Few Things: As of this moment, I'm OFFICIALLY done with half of the semester (gracias a Dios) and my family is here for the first week of mighty spring break. Here they are on a reflective moment to Albertslund, or in their words, "the end of the world."

I probably won't be able to respond to emails for a while, so, no, I'm not ignoring you, of course. Emails get buried under more emails (sorry Ben), and I'm sure I will have lots of more interesting things to say after this month... Russia's a definite set and I got my sister's digicam for the rest of the stay here (as you can probably tell by the snazzy photos) and no Morocco for now, but hey, a tour of Italy should be still amazing (if not more!) with Annie. Ok, I should get some sleep, before Copenhagen swallows me whole. See ya in the otherside of the world

2005-03-08T16:36:00.000-06:00

Best part of the Danish Language? You know those "Swedish" meatballs ("Swedish" with quotation marks because we all know those swedes hog all the scandinavian glory) they serve at Ikea? Well they actually have a name and its "frikadeller," and it sounds almost exactly like "freakadelic" with a cockney accent. So you say:

"Hey, what are you cookin?"

"Frikadeller."

"Right on!"

(the word arbejdsløshedsunderstøltelse is pretty good too)

2005-03-08T11:38:00.000-06:00

I've been having these straaange dreams lately, the kind that mush and weave everything in your head together so at times I'm walking around and I can't seperate fact/fiction/musings/wishes when I hear a song or see a place... my brain just freezes. And trying to unpeel subconcious layers through Kierkegaard, late nights, and readings is puttin my head through a total headspin right now. But it could also be midterms, too.

But first some (very) sad news: my favorite shawarma shop here has closed for business. I knew the guy was waiting for word on his visa anyday now, but, dammit, I need delicious shawarma closure. I wish him the best of luck in San Diego, and any San Diegoans there should keep an eye out for City Falafel in August. Other things I miss: my speakers, Colita, the ol' CRV, and of course temperatures above 30. I'm also missing maduros but, really, when am I ever not?

But some good news! After this second week of cramming and all nighters, Mama, Papa, and Tatana will all be here and it will be SPRING BREAK. Now, Danes here take their vacations very seriously, and as such I will have a longer SB than I usually get for Christmas. I'll be with the family for most of the first week, hopefully squeeze a weekend in Amsterdam before spending a week in Russia and then flying off for a week in the Mediterranean (soon to be my favorite place) with the much-missed Annie, touring Morocco and the Isle of Capri. Yes, be jealous. You know you wanna.

And then, all of a sudden, it will be April. But of course April can never be as cool as March, and thank y'all for all the emails and messages for the b-day. It was quite a blast, a good and worthy followup of Birthdaypalooza; the entire dorm was throwing a huge party, Tour de Bloc, in where everybody drinks from block to block (they're like tons of them) sampling everybodys liquor, ending at the bar in Albertslund. Needless to say, it was a doozy, and I made it to 25 (sharpies and witnesses to prove it!)... saw tons of people and friends and woke up with mysterious bruises (always a good sign).

But, the flipside of this wholly unproductive weekend is four midterms and a paper all due before the end of the week. Rock it. Will be posting more visual stuff soon, the digital camera will be here just in time for Russia, and by that time I should actually have some cool stuff to show yall. Til then, vi ses.

2005-02-23T16:37:00.000-06:00

Notebook Doodles

Or, at least, says so the Modernist (with a capital "M"), with all these Henrik Ibsens and Ingmar Bergmans and Kierkegaards hammering over your head every DIS class. Seriously, the Danes here love "modernism," it's as if it just happened yesterday and they can't wait to tell you all about it. At least my teachers do:

So I forgot to upload my other teachers, but Prof. Warmind is my nordic myth teacher (and also the coolest professor name I've ever heard), and actually IS a viking and wears the same sweater-vest every single day for lecture. Brian, my kierkegaard teacher, often talks about his head exploding from thought.

DIS is actually a whole lot like high school, with the same smallish group of students going to the same classes, going on the same trips, and all having their seperate places. It's a lot of fun, but it was really refreshing last night going to a bar not ravaged by american college students (but instead hipster danes! as we affectionately called them). It was an "open jam session" night, which included a woman chanting and yodeling in indian and doing crazy polyrhythms on an ancient drum (which was actually really amazing), a sex pistols cover band of fourteen year olds (they won't be able to... scream?sing?screech?... like that in about a year or so), and a very angry danish rap duo (which was actually really terrible). we decided it might be better to visit again, when it's not a tuesday night.

Photos to come soon! And I will have my dad's digital camera for spring break and afterwards, so just kinda expect for more photos then as developing here is so freaking expensive (as is everything here). Also, I haven't shaved since I've been here and am thinking of trying to develop as much of a full beard as I can for mighty Russia, what do you think? I just want to sit in an opera house in St. Petersburg stroking my beard and patting my vodka-filled flask. What could be better?

2005-02-13T11:21:00.000-06:00

Advance Apology

So yes I said I would keep this kinda updated and yes I said I would keep this updated less with words than with pictures, but hey, when your internet at your dorm's slower than 56k you really can't do much other than be sittin' pretty. So instead I give you this photo I randomly stumbled upon and also a promise that I'll update again before the weekend's over, with all sorts of curios. And yes, Copenhagen has quite a nightlife. If you couldn't tell.

2005-02-01T05:47:00.000-06:00

Copenhagen, Denmark

I am still in possession of this snazzy scanner thanks to a certain friend (or friends) so here I will try to post as many drawings and photos as I can!

Denmark is crazy. And pretty amazing. I'm not going to go into much detail here as I could probably never stop, suffice it to say that I shall try to attempt instead to blog here through drawings and photos (if i can find a cheap developing place), and will be emailing y'all pretty soon. Hope all is well in Baton Rouge/Evanston/India etc. etc. and drop me comment below if you want an email. Hej Hej

2005-01-12T13:38:00.000-06:00

The Fantastic Facebook

(click images to see bigger [though crispier?] version)

These drawings will, hopefully, be published in The Passenger's upcoming first ish, illustrating Ryan's facebook article. These were kinda due before Thanksgiving, so much kudos and thanks to Felipe's forgiving and tireless patience. I really struggled with this, not liking the idea at all, but two months worth of agonizing anxiety and thought made me more comfortable with it-- and I think it turned out kinda nice. It was a little surprising to see (but then again, completely not suprising at all) that my go at a comic book shows my unabashed love for the lumpy detail of Don Rosa's duck comics.

Interesting fact of the day: Today my dad showed me the trophy that Broken Lizard's The Dukes of Hazzard will use for the big huzzah race at the end. He's gotta engrave "the 70th annual Hazzard Cup -- 1st Place" on it or something; this whole city has gotten crazy over this movie being filmed here and naturally my parents have gotten swept into it. Jessica Simpson's wardrobe designer bought one of my mom's designed necklaces too, so who knows? Hannon Jewelers might be making its first foray into the motion pictures! And apparently Jessica Simpson is a mighty bitch, but I don't think anybody was too shocked by that. And I swear I saw Herbie the Lovebug driving in my friend's neighborhood (white bug complete with blue and red vertical racing stripe and giant number 53)... Baton Rouge gets stranger every day...

2005-01-11T01:59:00.000-06:00

Nothing to see here, just testing a few things, nothing to see...

2005-01-10T01:55:00.000-06:00

Oh, just poking around, mixing things up a bit. The "scribe" skin here seemed very ... uh, danish to me. Copenhagen's brown, right? Class schedule set, dorm number assured (room 233), gloves purchased. More on the way...

2004-12-04T15:19:00.000-06:00

so depending on whether i like oprah winfrey or not, i am either:

You're One Hundred Years of Solitude!

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Lonely and struggling, you've been around for a very long time.
Conflict has filled most of your life and torn apart nearly everyone you know. Yet there
is something majestic and even epic about your presence in the world. You love life all
the more for having seen its decimation. After all, it takes a village.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

You're Love in the Time of Cholera!

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Like Odysseus in a work of Homer, you demonstrate undying loyalty by
sleeping with as many people as you possibly can. But in your heart you never give
consent! This creates a strange quandary of what love really means to you. On the
one hand, you've loved the same person your whole life, but on the other, your actions
barely speak to this fact. Whatever you do, stick to bottled water. The other stuff
could get you killed.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

which is hysterical since 100 yrs of solitude is probably my favorite book of all time (read it 4 times and counting...) and i'm in the middle of love in the time of cholera... both by gabriel garcia marquez (my favorite writer).

yes, if you haven't clicked away from here yet you can tell i'm procrastinatin', and here's another one:

You're Madagascar!

Lots of people don't really know anything about you, making you
buried treasure of the rarest kind. You love nature, and could get lost in it
whenever possible. You're remote and exotic, and the few people who know you
value whatever they share with you a great deal. For some reason, you really
like the word "lemur".
Take
the Country Quiz at the href="http://bluepyramid.org">Blue Pyramid

AND...

You're Bikini Atoll!

You once believed that your biggest concern would be a shark attack. Now
you know just how much more destructive humans can be than any other creature. While you
don't like mushrooms, you've had to eat so many of them that it's become almost a way of
life. Exiled from your home and forced to wait for someone to clean it up, you've become
bitter but remain powerless. Most people like to gawk at those who share your
name.

Take the State Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

hahahaha. hooray for navel-gazing through HTML!

it's not december, yet

2004-11-30T19:33:00.000-06:00

thetwins
Originally uploaded by mibaji.

So I haven't seen a sliver of sunlight since I've returned to E-town, and frankly, it depresses me. Days like these, where I can't imagine at all how people ever settled in a place like this, make me think hibernation should be a more popular idea amongst us human folk. Blah.

Those are my new twin baby cousins (10 months old!) and they are the coolest people ever. Daniel has this stare, this general look, that seems as if he already has the weight of the world on his shoulders-- he also bit my dog Colita. Fearless. And Gabriela is crazy, she has the biggest smile and cackle and already is an unashamed flirt. Going back home for Thanksgiving made me realize how important family is to me, and it was bizarre dealing with baby monitors and high chairs in the house again.

And speaking of family matters, Di is currently smoked out of her room; apparently the guys downstairs didn't crack a window and/or ran out of incense, and the entire apartment reeks of the danky dank. Kinda funny.

But what's even funnier is that the quarter is this close to being over...which is kinda frightening/exciting, in several regards. I'll be making my last regards to the midwestern community in these last few days (cause life, or at least, all lines of thought, end after Copenhagen). I'm debating whether I'm going to keep this site up while I'm abroad, as I can see it being very beneficial (an already established journal outlet, good way to keep in touch, post drawings/photos) or harmful (do I really want a computer to be a main aspect of my life abroad?). However, if numero uno decides on pursuing this group mp3blog idea (hint hint) I would most definitely still contribute. If nothing else, music will remain constant.

And hey, maybe I could even post all the recording sessions I've been involved with this quarter. Pedro should get Nick West and I's 48 min Rock the Alice Millar concert on CD hopefully before I leave... really great stuff, haven't played music with such an accomplished and passionate musician such as Mr. West in a long time and I think it turned out real nice. Our 10 min "Oye Como Va" sounded sweet along with Nick's reworked "Maiden Voyage" cover with me dumbfoundingly trying to keep up. That's not even to mention the Buskin' sessions I got to play in with Peter, Katie, and our numero uno. I think our "Absolutely Cuckoo" should sound pretty cool.

I guess I should start on that Buskin' documentary before I go, now that I think about it... (I swear, I just have to put it together). On that note...

2004-11-18T23:18:00.000-06:00

Here's some drawings that Ryan tapped me to do for PLAY in this thursday's Daily... it was literally a last minute deal ("... you mean, they're due in an hour?") but that kind of immediate no b.s. dedication/focus was extremely refreshing. Regardless, I'm kinda happy with how they came out, especially Max's-- I kinda wish I packed as much attention and ideas to the other ones, but I don't know 'em, and I really didn't have any time to think twice, soooo.... there.

Max

2004-11-17T20:09:00.001-06:00

editmax
Originally uploaded by mibaji.

Sorority Girl

2004-11-17T20:09:00.000-06:00

editsororitygirl
Originally uploaded by mibaji.

Frat Jock

2004-11-17T20:08:00.000-06:00

editfratjock
Originally uploaded by mibaji.

Three Weeks, eh?

2004-11-14T18:56:00.000-06:00

Cartola
Originally uploaded by mibaji.

absolutely obsessed with:
*Soul Jazz Records. Good God, I don't think I've been this so crazy head over heels in love with a musical entity (artist, group, album, in this case, label) since I ... well, ok, so it happens a lot, but still, don't let that demean my excitement's significance. "no, like seriously, i mean, seriously dude, seriously... "
* mo' specifically: Saturday Night Fish Fry of prime cuts of New Orleans funk & soul... if that doesn't get you salivating or at all at least the bit excited, I'm not sure we can relate.
* procrastination, obviously.
* only other non-soul jazz album i'm playing madly right now: Way Beyond Nashville mix of alt. country. it starts with loooongtime favorite "blackbirds" by erin mckeown that i, get this, remember downloading on Napster's Favorite New Artist page waaaaay back in the day! It then tosses in some Merle, Nicholai Dunger, Sam Cooke, sleepy jackson, etc. all together.
* oak ageing (and I guess punching too)
* Cartola. The guy's what Ibrahim Ferrer would've been doing if he listened to more samba and brazilian deliciousness. And if he was more badass (that voice! just look at that picture!)

jivin' with:
* work has been pretty nice, my jackolantern won the big prize at norris and sound & sight had a little pizza party. as soon as my boss sends the picture of our "Vegeorcist" exorcist pumpkin (complete with revolving swivel head puking out pumpkin guts, vinegar as holy water to sprinkle, endless tape loop of "carve me! carve me!", and too many other details), i'll post them
* i have to take a danish language class while i'm over there- the book describes the language akin to someone with a throat disease with a potato dislodged in their necks. that sounds awesome.

dreading:
* 10 page screenplay (final of sorts) for tolchinsky. absolutely fed up with cliche bullfodder and the class in general, i wrote my last synopsis in utter cynical spite and contempt making the most banal and cliche ridden thing i could think of. he told me that synopsis was my best one. EEEYARGH

God Bless America

2004-11-05T13:34:00.000-06:00

nov5hilar
Originally uploaded by mibaji.

2004-11-02T13:08:00.000-06:00

away messages on november 2nd 2004:

* i feel like there is something in the water in middle america..... who spiked the well?
....kerry/edwards 2004.
* W 2004
* why not vote today? (for kerry, of course!) :-D
*a little bit of BUSH never hurt anyone....
* vote. today. help this country reclaim greatness (or at least some semblance of self-respect)
* Vote Bush/Cheney TODAY!
* VOTE! THE DAY OF RECKONING IS HERE! BUSH IS GONE! KERRY WILL WIN! KERRY OBAMA EDWARDS DEMOCRATS
BUSH'S GOIN' BACK TO TEXAS! YEEEEE-HAAAAWWW
*Go W!... 4 More Years!!... its going to be an exciting and eventful day!!
* damn republicans...
* one Way...
*now it is my turn to shock the vote.
KERRY EDWARDS
* VOTE STRAIGHT REPUBLICAN!!!!!
W 2004!!
* Putting my dream energy into Kerry
* KERRY/EDWARDS!
*Kids, I'm studying. Don't call but leave a message if you want me to respond sometime today. GO VOTE! (BUSH)

And so, my question is, WHY...WHY?!?! Off to shoot myself in the head with booze tonight either way, and also, either way, I'll be leaving the country conveniently on the exact day of our new president's inauguration. Kudos to Democracy

(and p.s., in case your interested, there were more pro-bush away messages than kerry one in my ole buddy list, and every pro-bush message was, whaddyaknow, all louisiana based. another great testament to my beloved stomping grounds)

2004-10-31T01:18:00.000-06:00

i Tentative Class Schedule:

1) Kierkegaard: Philosophy and Meaning in Life
2) Watercolor Painting
3) Contemporary European Film
5) Nordic Mythology
4) Masterpieces of Scandinavian Literature

In Copenhagen, of course. So yes, it's absolutely 100% official although my mind is having trouble keeping up with reality. This whole process has been so stressful, disorganized, and at times, so close to not working out (remember Cuba? or better, New Zealand?) that all these official approval forms and online regristration (online!) are really meaningless to me now. I booked my flight as simple as I ordered lunch (or actually, much simpler) and it was as light and weightless to me as deciding what to eat. Not that I want the whole crushing weight of five months in a place I've never even given more than a combined day of thought to. No, it's much more inspiring and exciting to think of spending the rest of the school year in a place I'd never would've imagined with experiences I never thought I'd have. So, yes, I would say I'm in a delicate balance of ... nervous excitement. It turns out that Kristen will be in Germany at the same time, along with Annie and Emily (I think) in Scotland, and Mama, Tatana, and possibly Diana (mi tia) will be visiting me. On my 21st birthday! Oh yes, it will be one to remember (for its anticlamaticism probably more than anything else. No Birthdaypalooza this year for me). Though I'll be officially able to buy alcohol and responsibly abuse it for the rest of my life a few months before my birthday, it'll be in a place where I could've done the same 3 years ago! But that really doesn't matter, it's just curious to see the effects of these turn of events panning out.
So, I'm rambling, but I needed something immediate to wrangle out these thoughts. It's been an exhausting dynamic lately (well maybe this whole quarter) of being sucked into massive crunch times and suddenly emerge in a expanse of idleness and free-floating. But being quickly sucked back into deadlines and promises. I finished The Unbearable Lightness of Being a week or two ago, and its whole lightness/weight concept has seemed to be accelerated on some kind of warp speed lately. Awesome book though (and yes, I just started Immortality, thank you Zack).
But more animation must be done-- the wonderful process of scanning. My neck is still sore from rocking out so much courtesy to Mouse on Mars (and the Junior Boys & Ratatat of course). I haven't danced like that in a looong time, or at least had a good dancing experience like that, and so many NU kids were there! In fact, I think it was just us NU kids who were dancing, with everybody else energetically shaking their heads and shoulders with feet and legs made of concrete. The Ratatat guitarist even danced with us! Gnarly. So I must nurse my sore neck with visions of lightables and pencils dancing in my head.
Oh, and what does it mean when your application form to your university (not housing form) asks you how tall are you? Damn tall Scandinavian bastards.

2004-10-27T16:10:00.000-06:00

Pygmies, Soccer Canines, & Big Brother's Bulge
(and all true)

No way!

and

"Aye, he's unbelievable, isn't he?" said a delighted Mr Burn.

And!

A-HA!

That is all.

Kino Kitchen*

2004-10-25T13:39:00.000-06:00

Kino Kitchen
Originally uploaded by mibaji.

COPENHAGEN!! Now, finally official, I think? COPENHAGEN!

*Picture in no way relates to post. (Yes, just filler to say COPENHAGEN!)

2004-10-21T13:43:00.000-06:00

Kinda Exactly How I Feel About Websurfing

"What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you can know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."-- Warhol

I hate the fact that I'm posting an Andy Warhol quote, but regardless, studying for my 1960's to Contemporary Art Survey class, I ran into this quote and have been thinking it over quite a bit. Now, of course, the bum on the corner (actually quite literally if you know where I live) probably doesn't visit the same sites I do, or, scratch that, even really cares/utilizes the internet, the fact that I (the cultural and out of context bum) can see Fred Durst's xanga or access and use the same reading material as Hollywood execs and Pixarfolk read, it's a little strange. As the internet's growing more and more, the personal pool of information and knowledge that was once exclusive can be absorbed by anybody, anybody, who cares to read-- and it's growing. Just the fact that I, if I wanted to, can visit these terrorist (dun!) websites with decapitation videos, that twenty years ago would be type of things you would only read & whisper about in newspapers, that I can actually go and see and participate in it the exact same way as they (they!! dun dun) do, is a little bewildering. As Dustin Hoffman illustrated with his infinite blanket in I Heart Huckabees, it's all connected (and/or the same?). George W. Bush knows it, Fred Durst knows it, Osama Bin Laden knows it, and you know it. Then I think, blogging is the perfect reaction to this. How natural is it to assert your own individuality in the face of all this chaotic sameness and everythingness that is the internet? It's almost a kind of knee-jerk reflex, almost inevitable. Who wouldn't want to claim individuality and personalize and link to the bizzarre? And, ironically, it all just becomes one blog that compromise one of the insurmountable and incomprehensible many, littering livejournals, xangas, blogspots, etc. everywhere. All unsettingly natural, the "one in the many."

Hmm. Well, too bad I dropped my Globalization class two days ago (har har har).

2004-10-19T13:09:00.000-06:00

Pretty Drawings

Wasting time, I stumbled upon these drawings:
http://www.dannygregory.com/drawings/index.htm
Sweet. I should bust out some old watercolors and fool around with 'em, maybe when I'm in Baton Rouge before My Salacious Scandanavian Sassafras Adventure (TM). It would be nice to bust some chops on my beloved Southern hometown and have some nice drawings as a rememberance before I skip out on the country for six months, and better, to immediately get into a drawing rhythm when I step off the plane (or on it). I would do oil pastels, are they're my favorite, but I doubt I'd make good impressions shaking hands covered with yellow and blue goo all up in my fingernails.

This Holiday Season, Give Your Family Nightmares

2004-10-15T14:00:00.000-06:00

polarexpress
Originally uploaded by mibaji.

2004-10-14T11:19:00.000-06:00

Been busy, busy, busy, busy (that's four busys)-- It appears that nobody has a freaking clue on how to exactly apply to Copenhagen. I talk to the office here, they tell me to talk to the DIS office, and they tell me to talk to the office here. @#%$!

On a quick note, I've been seeing really good crowdpleasers lately, following Shaun of the Dead with a special advance screening of the Incredibles! Rest assured, the Incredibles was a wild ride but very different from Pixar's past movies. It wasn't Toy Story retold (grab two wacky, yet immensely entertaining, characters in a wackier, yet incredibly smart, adventure), rather, it was a comic action film with a Pixar sense of humor. Long and thrilling action set pieces, great strong characters, but awful villian (Jason Lee's great, but it sucks he gets stuck with the lamest character to come out of Pixar, even worse than .... hmm, what do you think is Pixar's weakest character so far?) It was a bit odd to see action movie cliches so prevalent in a Pixar film (the evil sidekick rescue, the sneaking into the enemy base, etc) but damn if they didn't do it so entertaining and fun. It was as if the Cold War never ended, with cadillacs everywhere and crazy James Bondian evil lairs (in a volcano!) never grew concious of their ridiculousness. And, of course, superheroes. Kudos for creating a superhero world distinct and enjoyable, creating a real grounding feel for the type of world that superheroes would still live and work beside us (the "cape montage" is the funniest joke of the film, if surprisingly gruesome [which only made it funnier, to me at least]). Which reminds me, the film is PG for a reason. It's an action film, and its not real possible to create a G-rated action flick; people die left and right, but never in detail... that's where it's comedy comes in and saves the day. It's definitely not my favorite of Pixar's, or even Brad Bird's (Iron Giant, baby), but I couldn't recommend a film more. And when it comes down to that, why feel the need to compare it to anything else?
Um, well actually, maybe because the teaser for Lasseter's newest project, Cars, looked terrible. I really hate to say it, but my feelings of intense excitement towards the teaser plummeted. The whole premise is, duh, cars, and it seems to adopt the same ol' Pixar dynamic (what do you mean Lasseter that your only fear is being complacent? ) of the buddy dynamic. Except this time it's a no-personality freaking Dodge Neon and a beat up pick-up truck with buck teeth (a-hyuk). Even worse, most of the thing was the Neon in some NASCAR race with some awful pop punk sum-fortysuck in the background. It then cut to the two cars watching the race on some drive through theater, ending on an amazingly unfunny one liner complete with buck teeth gleeking. Even the design was awful, with the windshield as really ugly looking eyes that aren't very expressive at all. Yes, it was cringeworthy, and even more so cause, c'mon, this is John Lasseter and Pixar. I know most Pixar teasers undersell their actual films but this was a new low. I still have hope, but this is the worst looking teaser and design to a Pixar flick I've seen (and I liked, no, loved A Bug's Life.)

But enough of this. Animation must be done and I should be off. And that debate last night did nothing to convince people one way or the other in my opnion. But maybe I should stop opnioning other people's opnions. What do youthink?

2004-10-06T21:55:00.000-06:00

As of today, we no longer have hot water running in the apartment. When you turn the "hot" shower knob, even all the way, nothing but dust comes out. Welcome back, Winter, come mierda.

2004-10-01T16:32:00.000-06:00

The Independent Study is officially okayed! After all that hooplah, Annette Barbier finally gave me a permission number. I did most of the talking (I mean, bullshitting) and she seemed genuinely jazzed about the project, much more so than I would've imagined.

Things are bright and swimming, except for Evanston Living. It's a little strange being directly involved in such an awfully terrible situation as Di and I are finding ourselves to be-- turns out our "contract" with Evanston Living was um, false. Yes, that's right, false. The guy who talked to Di and negotiated the residence contract just got fired-- apparently he completely lied to us about rent and bills and all these other details, which means we have to pay all this other stuff we had no idea bout. We are considering to throw an "Evanston: F-ck You" protest rally, parade perhaps. I guess this is what the "real world" is all about, money, lies, and inept organizations. I'm really still shocked by this, and am not sure where the hell I'm going to get all this money, even just to pay rent for this month. Augh.

On that note, time to work for six hours. Maybe I should just do what I've always said I'd do since I was kid-- pack my guitar and my drawings, go to New Orleans, and set up my own space in the Quarter. Yeah. That'd be nice. Except for the tranvestites.

cubism_is_cool

2004-09-28T16:43:00.000-06:00

cubism_is_cool
Originally uploaded by mibaji.

I promise this animation thing's happening...

runout26

2004-09-28T16:42:00.000-06:00

runout26
Originally uploaded by mibaji.

You'd be running like this too if you had a two ton elephant in your living room.