one bee

Fri, July 16

Thoughts on the iPhone 4 Press Conference—2:02 PM

That's how you shut up the whiners!
I wish journalists asked such tough questions of presidents, politicians, and BP as they do of Steve Jobs and his goddamn phone engineers – sheesh!
Chuck Schumer is going to be just insufferable now.

Tue, July 6

Tanglepuppy!—4:36 PM

Okay, going back to chronological order...

In Class 2: Psychology of Body Mechanics, each assignment was drawn from a "pick list" of options, such as "walk down a few stairs," "balance along a beam," "hopscotch," etc. After parkour was such a draining experience, I wanted to choose just the right thing for my final assignment in the class – and all along I was certain that "a simple dance move" was not for me, as I am not a dancer.

However, I had thought about a dance move that had always made me smile: performed by a young girl nicknamed "Tanglepuppy" on an episode of Ze Frank's "The Show" back in 2006. (She's about 20 seconds in – check her out!)

I had saved a copy of the episode on my computer because it was so entertaining, so I dragged it out and submitted it as my reference video for my final assignment. (People in class assumed she was my daughter – my God I'm old!)

Here's the final product: it would be better if I had the skills to simulate a swishy little skirt on her (but I don't), or if I added her cute "Eeeyowww... eeyyowwww..." vocalizations (but I can't, because my timing necessarily departs from hers – these are the vagaries of animating from reference; there are always adjustments to make it read better in the cartoon world). Anyway, Tanglepuppy, I hope I did you proud.

0 comments with related links

[more…]

Whenever anyone says “I can’t,” it makes me wish he’d get stung to death by about ten thousand bees. When he says “I’ll try,” five thousand bees. (“I can,” one bee.)

—Jack Handey

# The Emperor's New Antenna Ups and downs, yes, but this guy had me at sentence two.

# Bale Animation Challenge Love this clip, from Animation Mentor alumnus Brandon Beckstead's third place entry in a contest to make stories out of Christian Bale's infamous rant. (You can view the other winners, but I think this one shines above, and proves that sometimes bleeps are funnier than profanity.)

Manhattan Murder Mystery (Disc)

# The Switch Obvious caveats apply, but Bateman and Goldblum, together at last! Is it even possible to resist?

Zero Effect (Disc)

# King Kong 360 3D at Universal Studios Hollywood I love how this is billed as "the world's largest, most intense 3D experience" – you're at a fucking theme park! Used to be you had rides, roller coasters, and animatronic beasties there – you don't need glasses to make those three-dimensional.

A Perfect World (Netflix)