The Aussie Environment

Who wants to go on a Steve Irwin style rampage through the Aussie Environment. You do of course.

Hope everyone enjoys this one as much as I enjoyed making it. Too much fun. I don't really know what else to say about this little creation, only that this is what happens when you have a spare day, no script, and a rubber c... well, you'll see.

Busy

As it's my glorious day off to sleep in, play with different projects and generally make a nuisance of myself, and as I didn't sleep in I'm attempting to make another little film for this place. Unfortunately there's a couple of location shots (the heady panorama that is my backyard) and the storm clouds are rolling in (not that that's a bad thing - Sydney needs water) so I may not get it done. I think I've cracked how to make films with some of my blog friends from other continents, that's right, all we need is a big ship to tow the countries closer and then I can walk over, OK, maybe not, but if you've seen me scouring you archives it's only because I'm raiding your pictures. Ha!

Anyway, we're burning daylight here. Action! I mean, hopefully I'll have something for you all soon.

ArthBard is a Legend!

This isn't really a post, but I think it's definitely worth posting! Well, if it isn't Magic Movie Monday. There's some great vids out on the web today.

For those of you who haven't seen it, our good friend Arthbard of Ringing the Otter and SafeTinspector has tried his hand at animation. And what a deft hand he has too! Everyone should go to either of those sites to see just how BRILLIANT a job he has done.

Mucho kudos, ArthBard! Great Work! I hope you do more.

ALSO, anyone who is anyone already knows that Monkey is a legend. He has posted a tour of his home town. It is as funny and sweet as any Monkey adventure could be.

Be Gone! Go on! Get over there and enjoy Magic Movie Monday.

PS. In other news, I was going to do another little 'Steve' type movie over the weekend but I spent too much time either talking to the cops or drinking with mates. I think it's the first time it's ever happened in that order... I must be slipping. Anyway, the little movie will have to wait until later in the week.

Pooppets! Pooppets! Puppets!

From time to time I enjoy mucking around with puppets. Sometimes they muck around with me, the little blighters do it right here on this blog. There's a lot of different types of puppets out there and except for the occasional human puppets all are a lot of fun to play with, but the hardest type of puppet to manipulate with true precision and realism is the Marionette. There's no 'cheat' in their movements as with other hard to manipulate puppets.

With claymation puppets you have time and a video-grabber to work on perfection. In ventriloquism, well, if you see the puppet turn his head real fast it's because the puppeteer is trying to distract you from noticing they can't stop their mouth moving on letters P or T. I won't go into the other 'hard' to use puppets but there are cheats to make the performances look good. But with Marionettes it's all right there in front of you and it's *expletive* hard to give an inanimate object human weight and movement especially at the end of a long flexible string. Try it, you'll see what I mean.

Anyway, I found this vid of an 'unknown' hollywood puppeteer. The puppeteer is absolutely frigg'n brilliant. Now, if only there was a story to go with his skill.

Thankyou Bloggers

I've deleted the previous post, well, for reasons that should be pretty obvious. I get to spend my Saturday with the cops. Joy of joys! I'll take an extra value meal.

Thankyou bloggers for all your interesting, intelligent and thoughtful comments. If ever I needed to know if you were a good bunch of people your statements on the previous post prove without a doubt that you are. But I never wanted to know! Geez, what a bunch of goody two shoes and quite frankly your sense of civic duty is stinking up the place. I need to go rob a bank or something to get this taste of 'nice' out of my mouth.

A big Hi to the newcomers on the previous post. JC, the non religous one, very insightful comments, you seem like a good bloke. Geek, the geek, likewise. I'm sure I'll be visiting your interestingness blog from now on. Alex, you seem happy. For those who didn't see Alex's comment it was something like :) And that Angel tickled by some kinky thing, you are boring. Shut up you pathetic spammer. I would link you all but that seems like too much trouble today.

Peace Out!

Friday the 13th

I know what you're thinking, Friday the 13th, what portents of doom will wend there way into this wordy world of weblogs.

Well, Certain people have said that the world is like a calm pond, and that anytime a person does even the smallest thing, it is as if a stone has dropped in the pond, spreading circles of ripples further and further out, until the entire world has been changed by one tiny action. If this is true, then the book you are reading now is perhaps the perfect thing to drop into a pond.

I hear the question. What book is he talking about?

Well, If you have ever peeled an onion, then you know the first thin, papery layer reveals another thin, papery layer, and that revels another, and another, and before you know it you have hundreds of layers all over the kitchen table and thousands of tears in your eyes, sorry that you ever started peeling in the first place and wishing that you had left the onion alone to wither away on the shelf of the pantry while you went on with your life, even if that meant never again enjoying the complicated and overwhelming taste of this strange and bitter vegetable.

In this way, the story of the Baudelaire orphans is like an onion, and if you insist on reading each and every thin, papery layer in A Series of Unfortunate Events, your only reward will be 170 chapters of misery in your library and countless tears in your eyes.

~The opening paragraphs of Lemony Snicket's 'Book the Twelfth' and 'Book the Thirteenth'.

I've never enjoyed a Friday the Thirteenth this much!

If for some reason you have a love of the english language in all its ludicrousness, a word here that means silly enough to enjoy one of the best series of books ever written for children and adults alike, but have yet to read a single page let alone a full volume or the entire 13 books in A Series of Unfortunate Events, or just haven't gotten around to buying the last book of the series, then STOP! Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, ever read the tale of the Baudelaire orphans and their heartbreaking calamities, a word here that means it would be preferable to swim through a pool of scorpions than live a single day in the life endured by Violet, Klaus or Sonny, which started with the fire that changed their lives forever by killing their parents. It only gets worse from there.

Which is why, although I just purchased the book, I am leaving work right now in search of a pond in which to drop this accursed book.

SNICKET MUST BE STOPPED!

B-Hip in Oz

Peter Potamus, the world famous and now globe trotting flash animator, suggested I should make a video where everyone dies at the end. Well, I've been wanting to do a another short for this place. So I have, but I couldn't resolve to kill all the characters. Just B-Hip.

Enjoy B-Hip in Oz.

Free Video Hosting

Philomena & Spy

I haven't really got anything to post about. Just been trying to catch up on work after a week off and the public holiday and so forth, damnable fun limiter that work stuff! Oh well, it's friday and it's almost beer o'clock.

Talking of clocks, here's another illustration of mine to tide you over for the weekend. This is the first illustration of a story I wrote to be read to children at bed time. You'll notice Philomena and her best friend Spy (the Tasmanian Tiger) in the bottom right hand corner. It's based on a poem I made up for my then 4 year old niece one night and starts off...


     Tick-Tock another day’s clock

has struck the chime of another bedtime,

and with polished teeth and pyjamas donned

we hope you dream a pleasant dream,

of an ice blue lake

between warm amber hills,

where a rainbow fish

flicks his golden tail

at a dragonfly, who dodges by

the dancing reeds

growing along the stony path,

that rambles through the… the…

     Philomena woke with a start. “Where has my dream gone? It was right here”. Philomena picked up her pillow and looked underneath. She searched through all her blankets and under her bed. She even checked in her slippers to make sure it hadn’t fallen in by accident.
     But there was no sign of Philomena’s dream.

Things to know about Aussies...

Australians REALLY like sports

Australians REALLY like public holidays

Australians REALLY like BBQ's

Australians REALLY like to drink

Australians REALLY like to drink at BBQ's held in

honour of major sporting events and public holidays

Australians REALLY feel like the illustration below

after a weekend involving two different football grandfinals

and a public holiday Monday.

OK, it may just be me... So instead of posting anything I've just added links to your blogs. Wow, that only took twelve-odd months. If I missed you, which is possible, let me know and I'll add your name this time next year.