Another Kirby Animated Short

is in production. Below is a style frame. more to come.

Seventh Day of Christmas

Seven Swans a Swimming

Sixth Day of Christmas

Six Geese a Laying

Fifth Day of Christmas

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS

Fourth Day of Christmas

Four Calling Birds

Third Day of Christmas

Three French Hens

Second Day of Christmas

Two Turtle Doves

First Day of Christmas

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

RED ALE

It's friday and if you're anything like me, it's the perfect time for a lunch beer. I know in the times that we find ourselves in, people are more likely to stay at their desks, keep their head down, and try not to get fired. However, sometimes you have to do something wrong, to feel alive. Life is to short to worry if your boss can smell booze on your breath. Granted if you're a doctor, or crane operator this may not be sound logic.

For the rest of us, enjoy yourself it's later than you think.

World of Blog

I was watching the movie "Julie & Julia" the other day, and started thinking my blog was a failure. I realized quickly how melodramatic that sounded and then considered that the medium of blogs is dead. People have been writing blogs long enough now, that just about anything you can write about is being written about multiple times over. It's gotten to the point that most blogs just re-post what they've found on other sites. I'm not trying to be critical of this, but where does it leave us in this world of blogs?

I for one will not stop looking at blogs any time soon. I just wonder about things like, how does one get their blog to stand out in an over saturated market? What is the point of looking at blogs other than to kill time? What's the next step in the evolution of internet social sites?

It's been over three years since I started this blog. I took a hiatus about a year ago, and that probably turned off a lot of the readers I may have had. Still, it bums me out that no one has commented in quite awhile. I guess I should be thankful that I do have one person following my blog. No, they're not my mom or someone I know, so that's something. So to the one follower I have,
Thank you.

schematic drawings

I love schematic drawings, so formal and functional. Yet, at the same time contain so much aesthetic beauty.

Winter Riding

Well it's cold out, and today I pulled out all the stops for my ride into work. Two jerseys, a jacket, full gloves, cap with ear flaps, and booties. You know it's cold when the booties come out. They look so funny on, kinda like I only have socks on or they are connected to my tights.

ARM

a blog about life, death, love, hate, wealth, poverty, racism, just a few things that's been running through my head.

No one's going to tell you how to do it,

but there's plenty of folks that can tell you what you're doing wrong.

going green

use the following imagery* on all your corporate media and watch the green dollars flow in:

Wind Turbines
Reusable Bags
Solar Panels
Green Plants
Bicycles
Wind Turbines (you can never show enough of these)
Globe
Recycling Bins

*note, there is no need to actually have or use any of these products. Showing the illusion of these things is good enough.

plug-ins & FX will kill you in the end.

It's that time of the week again

What the hell are you still doing at work?

It's a Blog Eat Blog World

I'm just trying to introduce some new blood into the www.

Less Than 20/20

So, I've had some kind of eye infection since monday. The last few days I've not been wearing my glasses. It's been a while since I've gone sans glasses, and I like the fact that everything farther than three feet from my face looks like an expressionist painting. If only my eyelids weren't swollen and sore this might be a pleasurable experience.

All I want for Christmas

The Good Die Young,

The Special Live Forever.
update: these things never sound as good the next day.

I go beans out!

StopWatch

From the same project as the gavel.
Another look that never made it off the ground.

Occlusion

Another occlusion render that didn't make the final cut.

Everyone is a hipster

some people just have an easier time admitting it.

Shakey

Manhattan

It's Happy Hour somewhere. Get out there and enjoy your weekend.

Off the High Horse

So, last week I posted a little jab at Atlanta and its high toxic levels. Well, it seems like Oregon is on a top ten list of it's own.

Ambient Occlusion

I wanted to post my own example of AO before it's too passé. The look is right on the cusp of being over done, as FOX has be using this style for some of their bumpers this season.

Wedding in Super-8

Our friend Leah shot some super-8 of our wedding. She had it digitized and made this movie. I love it.

Armless, Transgender, Imaginary Character

Monday Morning

Riding in to work this morning, I did a manuver I like to preform every now and again. Coming down the Broadway Bridge, I can see if a train is going to block my route to work. If there is a train, there's a set of stairs just before I get off the bridge, that I can take to avoid the train. Sometimes (like today) there is a crowd of bikers right behind me, so a sudden stop on a narrow bridge is not advised. What I like to do is wait until the last second, feather my brakes just enough that I can kick my rear wheel around and to the left. At this point I'm almost facing the entrance to the stair and its just a matter of taking whatever momentum I have left, and sliding into this space, in front the stairs that is just big enough for the bike. I'm out of everyone's way without much fuss.

After I did this today however, I was walking down the stairs thinking how close those bikes behind me were and how much I must have scared the shit out of them. At first I kind of felt good about it, like "yeah I'm a bad-ass". But, the more I thought about it the more it seems like a stupid move. First off, the pavement was slick with rain, and whipping my rear tire around like that could easily cause me to slide out. Second, any of the cyclists behind me could have plowed over me and taken us both out. Third, If I don't stop in time, I'm basically going down three flights of stairs.

Now, it may not be that dangerous, especially compared to what a lot of other people try to do on bikes these days. But, for me it seems a bit sketchy. I think that tells me a lot about myself. Gone are the reckless days of doing anything without a second thought. It's almost like the older you get the more you realize how fragile life is, or maybe you realize how long it's going to take to heal.

Fall Fashion

In case you were interested in what this seasons hot new styles are, I've conveniently posted a photo of what I'll be wearing.

Enjoy!

Today

It's one of those days where I'd love to just be riding my bike on a quiet rural road, heading no where in particular. I've always considered myself a loner in one way or another. Solitude is the best way for me to clear my mind sometimes.

2009 basball season

I posted this comment over at ShysterBall

It sums up how I feel about this baseball season.

"I don’t know about “great season”. Honestly I was bored mid way through, and hoped the playoffs would bring some magic to what was turning into a predictable season. Minus a couple of really great post season games, the playoffs shaped up pretty much how we all expected. I hate to sound like a pessimist but this kind of season does not get younger audiences interested in baseball, unless you live in new york. Last point, the final game being played in November is just too much. Most folks have moved on (i.e. football/basketball). Let’s tighten the playoffs up and finish them sooner than later.

Just my two cents."

update: This sums it up better than I ever could have.

Most Toxic City In America

Way to go Atlanta, you're number one in something!

Boom

I really love how the color turned out on this one.

The Book never left

I feel like I'm hitting my stride with this one.

The Book is back

actually it never went away. I just have not posted anything from it in sometime. It's coming along nicely.

Forgiving: 10-04-09

To the guy who parked his mini van in the bike lane, while he talked to someone on the sidewalk:
I forgive you.
It's probably been years since you have ridden a bike, and since that time a lot has changed. You see, people now use their bikes as transportation. We share the road with cars and at times bicycles get their own lane. In this case you were in that bike lane on a two lane road, that serves many cars and bikes during rush hour commutes. By parking your mini van in the bike lane, cyclists were forced to take the "car" lane, where we are not welcome (I and many other cyclists can attest to this by the amount of honking that occurs when we are in the least bit in said lane). But as I said, you are probably not aware of this fact, and for that I forgive you.

Too cold for shorts

Rode to work in shorts today. Think it may be time to get the tights out and cover up the short and curlies.

MONDAY

for the ladies.

I got an new rain jacket for my birthday. It's for rainy rides, which I get a lot of this time of year. It's a great jacket. Here's an illustration I whipped up of said jacket for you.

gotcha again!

you've just been mooned!

Happy Halloween!
Here's a quick sketch of what I'll be wearing this year or rather not wearing...

As much as I complain about people being jerks on bicycles, it seems I was the jerk today. As a light turned green someone whipped by me very close and with out a word of warning. Right away I told myself to take it easy and let it go. Unfortunately I could do no such thing, as I found my pedals moving faster and faster. In no time I was right behind him. He was moving no were near as fast as I was and I immediately wanted to pass him.

At this point we're on a very tricky part of Vancouver Avenue, in which the bike lane is in between two lanes on the left and a turn lane one right. Most cars on the left are trying to cross over to get into the turn lane, while the bikes are just trying not to get hit. I'm waiting for cars to clear when I realize they are waiting for us to clear before merging right. Directly in front of me is a car and the offending bike. There's just enough space to squeeze between both, and before I can think, I'm splitting the two.

After this daredevil move, I lay the hammer down. I don't want any confrontation with the cyclist or motorist for that matter. In doing so, I'm passing cyclist one after another. This is the type of riding I hate when others do it and here I am doing it myself. All of this could have been avoided if only I had stuck with my intuition and left the cyclist alone.

SLOW DOWN
enjoy the ride.

MONDAY!

I've really have to start drawing again. However, my outlook has been some what bleak this last week. Can't really get into detail about it here as I'm abstaining from work talk.

here's a screen grab of the 3d skull thus far. Still need to integrate the teeth with the head and give the skull some volume.

This is my first attempt to do to the animation world what Basquiat did to the art world in the '80's. I have a long way to go.

I'm building a 3d mexican skull. Here's the intial drawings.

Scanner/Printer is broken at work today, so I had to create my color digitally. Hopefully it should be up and running soon, as I have a nice sketch I'd like to post.

Slow news day.

To the guy riding the white IRO, you are everything cliche and wrong about "scenesters" and cycling in general. When you first passed me this morning I was not shocked that you flew by without a word of warning. Upon seeing your black headband holding back your long straight black hair, I knew you were working the full on "hip" (and at 8:45 am no less). At the first light, again not shocking, you felt it necessary to do a track stand while waiting, and then before the light turned, passed everyone waiting in front of you and ran the light. But you were not done yet. Next you passed a slower cyclist on the right, without looking of course, and then blew through a cross walk where an older woman was crossing the street.

Are you really in that big of a hurry? Do you think others find it impressive when you act like a douche? Do you realize how much of over thought, out of touch, tool you are?

Here's where I'm supposed to say I forgive you, but today I'm finding it hard to say. I guess you'll have to wait on my forgiveness.

gray day and I need some COLOR in my life.

case of the mondays

To the lady who cut me off in her car, twice. I forgive you.

The first time you started to right hook me, I thought you stopped because you saw me and tried to correct your error. My wave was not a gesture of anger, but rather a friendly "thanks for noticing". One block later you came speeding around me, and this time did not stop as you made your right turn directly in my path. Your actions could mean one of three things:

1) You did not see me, both times (and there for did not see my wave either).

2) You did see my wave and took it as a hostile action. Then decided to create your own hostile action.

3) You did not care either way if I was there or not.

I realize everyone makes mistakes. We tend to let our busy lives turn us into busy people. When this happens, we lose sight of the world around us and the people in this world. Today, I like to give you a word of advice.

SLOW DOWN
enjoy the ride

I forgive you.

SmokeFactory

Is it just me or is baseball even more boring than usual this season. Now, I love baseball, but for most people it's slow and tedious to watch. I have to agree sometimes, but for me it's a game that's all about the drama. Unfortunately, this season they've left out the drama. Here are three examples of why I feel this way:

1) With three weeks left to play in the regular season every division race has pretty much been locked up. Both wild card races are some what close but not really. For a lot fans, once
your team is out of it, the games tend to have less meaning. With only 8-9 teams still in it, that makes for a lot of pointless baseball.

2) There is no under dog in the fight. Last year it was the Rays, the year before that the Indians. These teams were fun to watch and nobody expected them to get as far as they did. This year I don't feel that way about any team. All the teams leading their division were expect to do well and subsequently are. With the exception of maybe the Detroit Tigers, who are always the underdog, but whom I do not know much about.

3) I'm sick to death of hearing about the Red Socks and the Yankees. Sometimes I get the feeling that if every other team in the MLB save Sox/Yanks completely stopped playing games, 75% of people who watch baseball, wouldn't notice the difference. Seriously. I'm also sick of the arguement that the Amercian League is so much better than the National League. This may be true but to run this story into the ground not only disheartens fans but also the world series.

One good thing though is the season is almost over, and once it is, then everyone who's team didn't do so well can go back to thinking about next season. It's a magical time where all our hopes and dreams can come true, if only in our minds for a few short months.

Also, you never know how the playoffs will shape up. It could be fun and I may get excited about the game once again, who knows.

Tired of being tired?
You know what I'm tired of, everytime I view a web page remotely dealing with sports, I gotta see this jackass' face trying to sell me something.

Put a shirt on you horses ass.

GOD FEARING, GUN TOTING, TAX PAYING, COUNTRY LOVING REPUBLICANS.

anti-american, anti-military, passive, do nothing democrats.


Is the world really that black and white? Some folks like to think so.

Sorry...

To the guy who rode through my snot rocket mist today, I'm sorry. When you confronted me about it, I should have said my apologies and been done with it. Instead we had to have a useless argument about who was wrong, me for snotting or you for being in my draft. Please know that I did everything I could to keep you out of the line of fire. I would also hope that you are aware that in the world of cycling these things happen. Just a few months ago I was the victim of a snot rocket. And not just the mist mind you, I took the full brunt of the thing on my shorts. So, please remember it's a dirty world out there, and if you get a little snot on you, it's only a small portion of the nastiness that we ride through and get sprayed with everyday.

And for all you reading this, remember, trying to carry on a dialogue with someone while riding a bike or in a car is pointless. In the end everyone involved is more pissed and set in their ways than before the interaction began.

I was going to post this on the wedding blog, but thought better of it. Really though I doubt any one is checking the wedding blog because they keep asking me questions that could easily be solved if they had checked said blog. Of no one reads this blog either but I'm taking comfort in the fact that it's out there.

with friends like these...

POST DELETED.

Suffered the worst lost in my softball career last night. We lost track of the actual total but I think it was somewhere around 45-4. At what point does the complete annihilation of one company's softball team at the hands of a much larger and well financed company's team become unpleasant for everyone involved. I'd as it was around the 30 runs mark. After that they stopped cheering and hung their heads as low as ours.

I've never been much of a sportsman. I'm a sore loser, no doubt about it, but this lose was so bad I went from sore loser, to delirious with shame, to silliness at the absurdity of it all. We have another game next week and I was really hoping wedding stuff would interfere with me playing. However, looking at the schedule it seems like I'm going to be free that day. Think I'll have to fake an injury. I don't think my ego can suffer another humiliation like that.

another slow news day.

I've been feeling nauseous all day. Hope it's not sickness. My best guess is that it's a combination diet and stress. Wedding jitters may be getting the best of me.

The world at large probably has no desire to hear about my stomach issues, but like I said, slow news day.

Ever since I was a young kid, I've had a weird fascination with this album. I remember watching the video for Paradise City (mostly black and white footage edited together for optimal effect)
and thinking how much fun it looked to preform at a show that large. These guys were cool, no doubt about it. I liked Warrant back then as well, but realized quickly that they were posers compared to the awesomeness that was G-n-R.

Even the art work on the cover held some strange grip over me. My dad had been disappointed in me when he saw my purple Ozzy Osborne velcro wallet. He said Ozzy was devil worshiper music and Dungens-n-Dragons was devil worship as well. Some how this made the taboo of the cover art for Appetite for Destruction that much more hightened. MTV had done a story on how contraversial the art inside the sleeve had been. I never had the chance to buy my own copy but I remember when I finally had a chance to see the inside art. It was violent, sexual, and held me in a trance for a very long time.

Today, I found this cassette at work, lying on the floor discarded by a freelancer that used to work here. I leafed through the sleeve, and marveled at the absurity of the photographes and graphic art work. I went through some tough times growing up, but some how this silly album by a band written off many years ago, has washed away all those painful memories and left only the good feelings I get when looking at it. Memories are great that way, all the crap fades with time, leaving the best parts for us to charish.

everyone's an art director.

The Cody: fixed gear and freewheel riders alike can now be the hottest shit on the block by doing "the cody". Just put your hands in your pockets, hold your head high, and look important.
Also try, the double cody, the lady cody, and the mobile device cody!

I was the only one in the office to ride into work today. It's over a 100 degrees today, but still portlanders are weak.

Bad drivers make bad cyclists part II

Just saw a guy riding down the street heading the wrong way into a construction area. He was also riding no hands and talking on a cell phone...

because bad drivers become bad cyclists.



Riding in to work this morning and I hear someone mumbling as they pull up next to me. I have to do a double take when I notice the girl who is trying to pass me has her phone underneath her helmet strap and is making a phone call. Hands free calling while you cycle.

I just came up with a new word:

"Broducts"

It's products made for Bro's. Like friendship bracelets or beer cozies. Coming to a store near you.

A copy of a Mayan relief.

This I liked too.

It's been forever I know. but here you go. Not bike related, but who cares. Just a little something I did for a display at work. More than likely will not be used, but it should be seen by someone.

bike trouble.

The cleansing has finally began. And since I waited entirely to long to clean mr. volpe, the process will be long and challenging. Well, not so much challenging but long. I've also put a lot of undue wear and tear on my rear rim, by riding in such muddy conditions and not cleaning the rim and brake pads right away. Let this be a lesson to all of you out there. Most of the bike is clean now, and paint chips have been patched. Next, is to clean the rims and adjust the derailleurs and brake pads.

Bored yet, I am. The point I'm slowly getting at is that I'm riding my "C" squad bike this week. While I love the black bomber, she is very very slow. The upside to this is that I can sit back and watch all the other commuters pass me with little shame, considering what I'm riding. With spring in full bloom many fair weather riders are back out, and a slow speed is probably my safest bet.

It's also around this time that spandex clad "racers" begin their yearly ritual of commuter slalom. As I've pointed out on several occasions, its nearly impossible for even the most seasoned riders to let you know they are passing you by calling out a friendly "on your left". My new theory however, is that it is part of some competition. The rulers are simple, pass slower commuters as fast and as close as you possibly can. The only other rule being that you must take no notice of these riders as you pass. Even when taunted by these slow moving cyclists (which I've been know to do) you must not let on that you are aware of their presents. I'm still working out the scoring system for Commuter Slalom, but it must go something to the effect of speed + proximity to commuter * ignorance of rider = you win. More details to follow.