Trying to Quit Smoking

What I've been doing in the paste few weeks: Trying to quit smoking again 3 times... I have no words for how hard this is... Starting a new support group - anxiety support this time... I hate it... small, warm room with no windows and 10 people inside... awesome for 10 people who suffer from anxiety, don't you think?  Reading the latest news on www.news-bite.com and making graphics to keep myself amused when I should be doing more important things... I am the queen of procrastination... Cleaning the house... Left it way too long, again... Washing clothes... Discovering new music... In particular "Until We Bleed" by  Kleerup, "Undisclosed Desires" by Muse, "O Death" by Jen Titus and "Rock Of Ages" by Def Leppard (All inspired by Supernatural, of course, or Supernatural fanvids... "Rock Of Ages" was what was playing on the Impala stereo in the finale when Dean rocked up to face Michael and Lucifer - awesome song, and "O Death" was the song they played to introduce Death, the Horseman - haunting!). Re-watching Supernatural from the first season... again... you're surprised? To name a few. Nothing majorly unusual! That's it for now. Take care all!

Hasselhoff Crowned King of Cyberspace

Former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff has been voted the king of cyberspace - as he is the star internet surfers are most hungry to read about. Hasselhoff beat off competition from hunks including Brad Pitt and Robbie Williams to earn the title, while pop star Britney Spears was crowned the female equivalent in the Pipex survey. The actor, who is already the Guinness Book of Records' Most Watched TV Star, says, "I'm delighted to be such a hit on the web and to be crowned king of the Internet." The top five male stars are as follows: 1. David Hasselhoff 2. Brad Pitt 3. Robbie Williams 4. Arnold Schwarzenegger 5.Michael J Fox The top five female celebrities is as follows: 1. Britney Spears 2. Paris Hilton / Victoria Beckham (Joint second place) 3. Angelina Jolie 4. Kate Moss 5. Charlotte Church.

The Geek and Avery Character Poses

For this assignment, our character design teacher (Bob Jaques) assigned us to draw a nerd-type of character, without resorting to the standard clichés of the classic archetype. So, with that in mind, I went to every possible comic book shop (great gathering places for nerds, such as myself) and focused on what makes a nerd, well... nerdy. Believe it or not, the final image is a semi-caricature of a guy who works at "Big Pete's Comic Book Shop," which is located near the Lonsdale area. I find it funny that the guy was fat all over the place, which was something I wanted to emphasise for my design. Also, he had stocky legs which (sadly) I had taken out in the final design. Overall, Bob loved it (the man tits, especially) but he did give me notes for where I should improve it: Give him love handles, which wrap around the form of the subject. Define the pocket on the pants. Don’t make the shoes as graphic; think more solid shapes. Take note that his corrections are in black pencil. The second part of the assignment was to take one of the classes designs (I choose Gaston's beaver) and put it in two different poses: The character was angry, and is about to throw a punch & The character is hanging on a rope, 1000 feet in the air, and is clinging for his life. Critiques are most welcome.

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

Intellectually, I feel like I prefer The Sorcerer’s Stone (Book #1) to this second book in the Harry Potter series. But emotionally? I finished this book and drew in my breath and smiled and thought, “That was even better than the last book! I love this series.” Okay, in the first half of the book, I felt a bit restless. I felt like Rowling kept telling me things about Harry and all that I literally just read in the previous book. I know that this is because readers might enter the series in any of the books, so she has to recap to keep readers from getting confused. But it was a little boring and repetitive for this reader in places. That might have simply been because I had the flu last week. I read the first couple chapters while I was healthy and loved them. The flying car, ha! The garden gnomes! I laughed aloud in several places. Then when I caught the flu, I read about the headless ghosts party on Halloween, and I think I was supposed to laugh but didn’t find any of it at all funny. The mystery, the repetitive recapping of the plot, eh. I wasn’t laughing and wasn’t all that hooked to the story. 

 

I thought the little elf was odd, and I started thinking, “Oh, no. Here we go with the elves. This is starting to feel like fantasy. Yuk.” And the weird little screaming babies that can kill with their scream? I thought that was really weird and didn’t feel at all interested in hearing more. Then when the second half starts, and I was recovering from the flu, and Harry and Ron go to the cave, and the little elf... Well, I was turning pages fast, and feeling all, “I love imagining that there is a Hogwarts under London! And that little Harry is trying to save the world! And that there are Christmas parties with such beautiful decorations and majestic Dumbledore sits there celebrating and it’s all so magical!” and stuff. Which means that when I closed the book I was fully satisfied and no longer minded all of the recapping of plot. I don’t feel like recapping here either. Instead I’m just writing this little entry to remind future me that this is a joyful story, and that I might look back on it in twenty years and think, “Hm. Maybe I should re-read, but really, it’s just Harry Potter.” But no! It’s so magical! And funny! Recommandation for you kids: http://www.cartoon-coloring-page.com/harry-potter-coloring-pages/

Emergency Department

Fabrice was clinging to the bedrail when the paramedics wheeled him into the emergency department. I watched from down the hall as a portly police officer struggled to keep up and glanced upward at the receiving board to learn the story. Another stabbing victim. In this urban ed, it was a common story, another young male caught up in gang violence and the drug trade. I slipped in quietly as Fabrice answered the doctor's questions. I was a silent shadow, there just to observe and to learn what I could. I watched the nurses move about with well-rehearsed choreography, each sure of his or her task. A resident poked and prodded as his attending arms folded tightly, watched every move. Monitors chimed their familiar tones and interrupted the steady whoosh of the ultrasound. A brand-new student, I hid in the corner, mystified by acronyms and lab values, unable to comprehend the snowy sonar picture. Eventually, all the tests were finished. Luckily for Fabrice, there was no serious injury, just a constellation of cuts that needed more than a few stitches and about an hour of the rushed resident's time.

As we sat down, Fabrice noticed my shirt and tie, glaringly out of place in this department full of scrubs and white coats. My badge, issued by the hospital just hours earlier, gave me away as an interloper. His eyebrow rose suspiciously and my cheeks flushed red. I explained myself as a first year medical student, just starting out and ready to learn. I asked it if was ok if I stayed to watch the resident sew his stitches. Fabrice's face lit up. He was excited to serve as a learning model, and insisted that I lean in closer so that I could see every twist of the needle driver. He presented either arm, proudly displaying the many rows of railroad track scars that bore evidence to no small familiarity with the sharp end of a knife. He insisted that I be allowed to place the last stitch, an unnecessary knot at the periphery of the wound, but a tiny indent that he'd be able to show as proof of his night as a professor. Fabrice walked out of the front door of the hospital and into the dark early morning. There was no great life lesson learned, no moment of realization or epiphany. Fabrice represented the constant story of the recurrent inner city trauma patient, and the tired resident sighed as he pulled off his gloves. And we were done.

A Trip at The Zoo

Don't you ever get tired of spending your weekends in the same old pubs, with the same old friends, telling the same old college stories? Last Saturday, I was pretty fed up myself so I decided to make a change. I chose to spend my day at the zoo! With biology classes being far behind me, I had to read something about some of these pretty awkward creatures before spending my whole day with them. There are some animal facts that will make you fear some of them while falling for the other ones: big or small, dangerous or friendly, they all have their own way of interacting with human beings. Well, you would never guess how happy I was to break my routine and make some new "friends". I wasn't able to buy them a beer or brag about my long time gone popularity but I did enjoy my time there. So, here's some funny stuff about animals I have discovered at the zoo!

Every animal resembles one of your friends, relatives or accountancies. It is not always at their advantage. Monkeys are mean, you cannot imagine what they are literally capable of doing in exchange for food and attention so thank God I came loaded with biscuits, bananas and good will. Giraffes are actually kind of fast (it wasn't the impression I was getting from old Marty, one of the animals in the Madagascar movies). It's enough to watch the lion sleep in order to be scared to death. Can't imagine what it's like when it's wide awake and roaring. Bears are big, really, really big. Before going to the zoo, I read about the differences between the African and Indian species of elephants. Well, I didn't understand what small elephant ears look like. They looked pretty big to me, even if the brother of Dumbo I saw was coming from India. You have to go to the zoo, it is not just a place for school trips. Animals can be pretty great to hang out with when you want to try something different. How about next weekend?

Notes from the Box

Some of you out there in stopmo-land may remember a very inspirational blog that vanished from the web a year or so ago. Yes I am speaking of course about "Notes from the Box" which was the passionately keyed stopmo ramblings of animator Misha Klein. Well- for anyone out there that might be wondering, the blog may be gone but Misha's project (previous known as "Bad Bullets") is in full production. What started in his little one room studio in San Francisco years back is now nearing completion in another cramped box here in Los Angeles. I've seen some of the most recent shots and all I can tell you is that fans of stop-motion are in for a treat. Misha is crossing over into some juicy acting zones and really putting it all into the performance. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mish, check out the teaser scene for his film. Visit Misha's Web Site. The reading has paid off, he is definately following "The Way of the Actor". Keep rockin' it Mish!