creativeCHUTZPAH

WE CAN TAKE IT

2007-05-09T13:27:00.000-05:00

off the map until further notice { internet, reality, or otherwise }. pass it on.
fight the good fight, keep the home fires burning, and if i'm not back soon... call the president.

SCATTER PATTERN

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

+ CLICK ALL OVER THIS +

+ greenmyapple.org about damn time + researching streamline design led to discovery of examples such as THIS and THIS. the experience has been purely sexual + YOU GOT MY VOTE +

+ FEEL OF THE DAILY GRIND +

{ this is a metaphor. no extra-legal activities are in play }

+ I DON'T WANNA GROW UP - preach tommy, preach + i used to be remarkable + 123KLAN - their site is a trip + world leaders make the venture brothers. they are welcome to employ me. +

NEXT WEEK: see main link above.

YUP

2007-05-02T21:22:00.000-05:00

PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

2007-05-01T23:40:00.000-05:00

i know alot of us at classes are feeling it right now. i know it isn't just me. i know there's something that could be done about it all { besides continually sucking it up and sallying forth on semi-blind faith } but i don't necessarily know what that something is. but damn if i'm not willing myself too. one thing for sure; alot of us are on the verge, one way or the another. macguyver, clean-up in aisle seven.

IMDB

2007-04-27T00:50:00.000-05:00

amazing what happens when people google for you.
wouldn't believe it if i didn't see it for myself but that's right kids, your man a-damn is on the IMDB (internet movie database) for my immaculate contributions to AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE (and currently sporting a star rating of 37% no less - take that paris!). i seem to recall working more episodes than this (not to mention other shows later on) but i also remember being told at the time that lowly interns didn't always get the kudos they deserve. eh, so be it. we know the truth.

anyways there you go. for all my sideline mentions of it over i've made over the past while i now present proof. i was once a somebody, once a contender. now...
back to your regularly scheduled whatever it is you people do.
...

P.S. - another interestig find: a man sharing the same full name as me once lived in germany back in the 1800's (hey, i'm german). he was born and he died on the same day (tho 65 years apart). that day happens to be my birthday (some 89 years later). go ahead and marinate on that for a minute.

SCATTER PATTERN

2007-04-24T22:03:00.000-05:00

+ CLICK ALL OVER THIS +

+ manufactured landscapes + GORILLA TAPE: STRONGEST ON EARTH + the smallest coolest apartment contest + FLASH LITE BRITE + put into perspective by a sense of scale +
{ are you paying attention? }

+ THOU SHALT ALWAYS KILL +

+ 2007 MINI HAS UP TO 10 MILLION CONFIGURATIONS + fight free radicals with frutzzo + DRAWN! + SP portfolio + infinite moleskines +

NEXT WEEK: 6AM can suck it.

KIWI POWER RESPONSE

2007-04-21T12:43:00.000-05:00

THE HAKA is a polynesian posture dance originating from a time when the common rock was as universal a tool as duct tape is today. performed by both men and women, it's use ranges from a celebratory chant, as a welcome for honored guests, and especially for declaring war.
tribes were all on fairly good terms (most of the time) but whenever they would encounter one another near their turf they would perform their HAKA display of force (similar to gorillas in the amazon - meaning it's fierce). The statements being made vary among tribes and eras but essentially may go something like:
" we are strong and we're not backing down. altho we respect you, you must also recognize and respect our might or we will thoroughly annihilate you ".
A current interpretation of a MAORI WAR HAKA is used by the new zealand rugby team THE ALL BLACKS as a show of strength and to psyche out opposing teams during away games.
(if you don't watch rugby yet you should. guys tear eachother apart. no pads, football fans).

" Ko Aotearoa e ngunguru nei! Au, au, aue hā! " - get it?

BOARD

2007-04-18T01:33:00.000-05:00

enter STORYBOARDS. i bust these out by the dozen for love and money to keep the zombie hunger of the bill collectors at bay (and occasionally make frivolous purchases - like food) all while on a full boat of classes. keeps one busy, keeps one tired. some say you can sleep when you're dead. i say those people most likely have never been spooned before.

honestly, these are a damn hot stack of fun to do and drawing was always my first lover. sure we've fallen out of touch lately but it's soooo good whenever we get back together. it just feels natural. it flows. messing around with all this typography and grid and code ...it's so damn good to sit at the table and sketch these out. little rusty and it shows but seriously, feels like being a kid again.

anyways some of you kids wanted to see so here you go.

{ just a peak though. don't tell anyone i showed you. SERIOUSLY. }

SCATTER PATTERN

2007-04-11T10:31:00.000-05:00

+ CLICK ALL OVER THIS +

+ NAILGUN* { coolest studio name. evAR. or at least this week } + is researching time management a misuse of it? + KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE + the world of hand dryers +

+ PRO WORK & NDA: 1, PORTFOLIO: 0 +

{ thanks much, big business. enjoy }

+ got bloodlust? take out the lego-like undead or better yet YOURSELF. { both made with flash } + havaianas + check your O-RING: rethinking the wristwatch { soo sweet } + pingmag! + REDBULL HQ { coolest looking studio. evAR. or at least - nope EVAR } +

NEXT WEEK: fight for tomorrow

TURKEL SPEAKS

2007-04-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

so we're back. 7 of 8 begins.
i didn't come back tan like the rest of you lucky bastards but whatever.
here we go.

first up: seminar with BRUCE TURKEL. honestly, it was a great talk. probably one of the best we've gotten. at least the most fun. if you have the means, i highly recommend it. turkel told alot of stories and the method for them was great (instead of the ubiquitous powerpoint presentation, he presented a series of crude drawings for the audience to choose from. each drawing told a specific story with a specific point). he came off as a very confident, spontaneous, funny guy and one of the tallest heebs i've seen in a while too (damn jealous there). walked away with a few new ideas in the way designers should think, brand, and create ( also the need to bring the term 'schmuck' back into the regular rotation of vocabulary - the best speakers swear ).

then i got home.
google the big guy and you get the site for his design firm. okay, so turkel walks the walk, very cool. but keep digging. two clicks later i find THIS and low, the man does seminars all over. for a living. and they're fairly similar to the one we just got. like, same spontaneous jokes and all (for those that were there, watch the videos to see what i mean).

unsure how i felt at this point. the man had good stories and better points, should i let the fact that his punchlines are proven schtick detract from the solid essence of what he was trying to say?

addendum: in the end, it is more than fair to say that one can't be 100% fresh all the time everytime, but one can be on point at least twice as often (as he was). expressing an opinion. no blood, no foul.

INSPIRATO

2007-03-29T16:48:00.000-05:00

...

it is not something that can be pulled one way nor pushed another
altho many coax it, bribe it, and will it.
most force it, even more steal it. daily.
a select few can make it flow, like water.
of those fortunate few
some scratch by on mere drops,
slowly starving.
others are caught under crashing waves,
having more than one can handle they drown.
and then there are those that have it as the rest crave it;
on tap and at the ready.
fear them (absolute consumes absolutely).

many willt attempt to claw their way up and out with it,
most are knocked back or worse, stagnate within it.
some start at the top and, slowly, trickle down as they lose it.
some fall, some crash, some just fade away.

but everyone wants it,
no matter how much they already have.
and those without will tear themselves and everything else apart
in their voracious drive to be as those who wield it effortlessly.

...

SCATTER PATTERN

2007-03-29T10:56:00.000-05:00

+ CLICK ALL OVER THIS +

+ VITAMINS I'M DYIN TO TAKE + old chairs, new life: project99 + MANDARIN 24 + bossanova an aquired taste, a desired design + THE VIDEOS OF MALAJUBE (montreal -40 is a joygasm ) +
+ insomnia cured watching 18 hours of heroes at once. fun little show, thanks AK +
+ MINUSHI + PRODUCTION LOG +

{ another full-length flash film made SINGLE-HANDEDLY. wowzers. }

+ CS3 announced! learn adobe. all. over. again. + ADDICTED TO BRAIN CRACK + organix pet food; healthy ingredients, killer type layout ( and DAMN I WANT A DOGGIE ) + wall-to-wall flash games at onemorelevel +

NEXT WEEK: once more unto the breach

6 < 2

2007-03-20T15:02:00.000-05:00

six down, two to go.
through painfull insomnia and less-than-expedient printers, we prevail.
the CHUTZPAH is on a temporary hiatus as it rewires for the next go at it. trust you're all doing well, see you when i see you.

STUDIO WEAK

2007-03-05T00:13:00.000-05:00

final production week is upon us again.
lately, i'm more and more of a mind that this shouldn't be about anxiety attacks, ludicrous deadlines, and trying to finish the sysphean tasks they toss half-heartedly in your path. no. to me it needs to be about this: have i added to my pertinent skills, my creative life? do i have the ability and the impetus to create something that, if i slapped it on your desk, you would fall over yourself to give me the shot and the spot we both know i earned years ago? if not, we just took time away from actualizing the work that will win me my place in the sun. educate, motivate, or eliminate.
three fourths of the way through this school now and most days i feel my worthy abilities and content are painfully minimal... but i also believe i got enough heart to make you cry blood. does that get anyone anywhere in our market?
or is the code, the kern, and the inside connection the only way out of this corner?

untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets - Patton.

i'll get there if i gotta gargle glass to do it. i'll sleep when you're dead.
that career, that life? you were just breakin it in for me.

ROUGH.

2007-02-27T16:56:00.000-05:00

there really are days where you never should've gotten out of bed.
i'm trying to limit the amount i kvetch about things but this has been unparalleled.
so far today:

power went out last night so the alarm clock didn't go off
this morning. slept in, missed breakfast, late for classes.

the train's sliding door took out my new glasses (two weeks to
replace thanks to my custom prescription).
now walking around with shatter patterns in my vision.

the laundry ate one of my favorite shirts (apparently
the 'delicate' setting is a fickle mistress).

cartoon frickin network is travelling out to scad in
savannah to interview for coveted internships and positions
(this week no less, thanks for the notice) but they are not doing
so in their own backyard of atlanta.

i was offered yet another really kickass freelance opportunity
but due to overloaded class schedule had to turn it down
(PC, you better pay off).

almost run down (i mean like i have bumper impressions on
my legs) by not one but three oversized SUVs piloted by lovely little
ladies that never learned to look both ways before entering intersections
(or at least get off their cell phones).

the market i went to for lunch was out of the one comfort
food i had schlepped there for (yes this all happened before lunchtime).

more than a little trepidatious of what the rest of the day has in store.
at least it's nice out.

SCATTER PATTERN

2007-02-25T01:03:00.000-05:00

+ CLICK ALL OVER THIS +

+ another forgotten soul (this scares me to no end) + R.I.P. HABEAS CORPUS - now you too can be an enemy of the state + ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKE HOMER SOMETHING SOMETHING + of course the iHOME doesn't have WINDOWS! + what? +

i made these

the rushed leica reel + the beer will have an event

+ MAKING LEWIS BLACK LOOK LIKE A ZEN MASTER +

+ the real thing + HI, i'm employable +

NEXT WEEK: alarm bells are ringing.

SCATTER PATTERN

2007-02-11T01:20:00.000-05:00

CLICK ALL OVER THIS + forget the film watch the titles + new york hates smokers, transfats, and now IPODS (oh, and you too) + happy tree friends, making cuteness fatal +
CRASH IS IMMINENT
+ beer brewed and bottled, now to brand it +
+ fearless moron + ikeahacker - another backburner wish (thanks PC) + notcoming.com + high stress low output + ONE MAN, 112,000 FUCKING DRAWINGS + VIMEO = youtube with some design sense + ANIMATION DUEL! + brick your skull so you can ride philips ambient experience + CN PUSSED OUT + PREACH + is this more legible now? + next week: WORK GETTING DONE (hold yer breath)

S.O.S.

2007-02-08T17:25:00.000-05:00

falling away steady and sure
only to find my safety chute is made of concrete
s.o.s. - cry for help
this is not a drill.

NOIRY

2007-02-05T19:04:00.000-05:00

next wave of insurmountable odds: animating THIS

in other news... brewed beer this weekend, but then it blew up (it was blinded by science). we will rebuild regardless.
pics of the event soon to follow in the next scatter pattern.

SCATTER PATTERN

2007-02-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

CLICK ALL OVER THIS + 77 sq. ft. apartment only 350 GRAND + PUCCA cartoons are addicting + alex gallego portfolio (why didn't i think of that) + the sad atrocity of joyce vincent + liveline + conforming when i'm damn good and ready too + sinatra is style + READYMADE magazine is periodical joy (get it? GET IT?!?)
+ DESIGN AT PLAY +
(will be going to this every.single.day.)
+ HTML BLOG CODE AND ACTIONSCRIPT ARE SIGNS OF THE APOCALYPSE + boston is scared of light-bright + the difference is why you drink + sisyphean deadlines + SLOWEARTH ROCKED ME LIVE + wearing three-piece suit when presenting = one classy bastard + next week: BURNED OUT BRAIN CELLS SMELL FUNNY (kinda like bacon).

FOLLOW THE STARS

2007-01-29T00:01:00.000-05:00

Daily horoscope for cancer
Sunday, January 28, 2007 :

Today you are limited by your own lack of confidence. You can be self-critical, but negative judgments are not the current problem. Your repressed fears and longings are keeping you from what could be the journey of your lifetime. Use this time to work on yourself. Forget about blaming anyone else. The real solutions now come from within.

you remember old daffy duck cartoons where he'd go from laughing to crying in the same motion?
reading and realizing this was kinda like that.

SCATTER PATTERN

2007-01-22T23:01:00.000-05:00

they say impersonation is the highest form of flattery.
taking a note from our resident korean konnection, KEITH!, I present the newly christened SCATTER PATTERN. This will be an ongoing event where i just drop all kinds of random dreck of mine and of those found happenning in, around, and outside the net (as there is a world outside your laptop screen, believe it or else) . Listed in no particular order with links and descriptions placed erratically (if at all) the only thing for sure is that they're aimed right at you - and your valuable time. so click around and waste it at will.

beat13 + pan's labrynth + prime OBJECTIVE (play with color, light, type, and sound) + superD : i am now taking idea donations for kickass animated shorts + scott mccloud and karim rashid SPOKE TO ME + eatPES + children of men (why are you not in line to see this film, again?) + <=RECOIL!=> + next week: SMOKIN' ACES and the return of the work week (oy)

...

P.S. - might be moving this to a new spot soon. keepin you on your toes, kids!
(if you got the CHUTZPAH to follow my beat, that is)

'TIONS

2007-01-15T16:07:00.000-05:00

Kicking around a million and one concepts on what to produce/achieve for this quarter's courses, invariably in this act of spinning my wheels i end up floating around the net a bit for some added inspirations (or procrastinations, distractions, and other possibly detrimental 'tions). Todays comes to us from HOOGERBRUGGE with the serial work HOTEL. As described on the site:

Hotel is the Hoogerbrugge’s first multiple narrative work. Using a spare visual vocabulary, and integrating the aural textures of ambient music, Hotel becomes a surreal interactive world pulsating with Freudian characters, shifting realities and altered states.

Gotta say; the idea of producing an interactive possibly episodic work is an attractive challenge if not a daunting one. Definately something to keep in mind but in the interim go spend some valuable working hours perusing hoogerbrugge's collection of disturbing interactive animations.

W W W

2007-01-15T15:07:00.000-05:00

Spent the past weekend seeing off my brother Greg. Technically not my brother by blood but y'know, some bonds are closer than that (we've both shed enough for eachother). He's gotten his final deployment confirmation and will be on his way for the next 13 months (give or take, as these things are apparently).
Keep your head down and watch where you step Greg, counting the days to our 2008 US reunion tour.

in a related story, as originally posted by brian wood:

LOVE OUR MEDIA
On the day Bush announced his escalation of the war,
there were more than 1,000 separate demonstrations against it in the United States, and in each and every state and district.
Who knew? Not me, thanks to our lovely news media. Anyway, here’s pictures.

click these links. now.

UNIVERSAL CHUCKS IN MOTION

2007-01-05T16:21:00.000-05:00

"Hey happy new year and welcome back. Now get to work."
Trust everyone had their good Holidays. About to start classes up again but first here's something from the last go-round; a commercial spot for CHUCK TAYLORS.
So the story goes: Spent about 20 hours on and off tinkering with this AFTER FX program over the length of the course when the word came down we would need to deliver as our final a 15 second commercial spot on whatever subject we wanted. the deadline (along with all our other courses) was in about a week. okay, lets go.
Whilst pacing around frantically trying to figure how this was going to get pulled off i noticed how everyone around -girls and boys young and old regardless of style ethnicity or income- are wearing chuck taylors (I myself am rarely without mine). By the time i was back in my chair the concept was to depict, in 15 seconds, how chuck taylors are a universal brand.
For this spot I photographed the backgrounds in various locations, sourced the background prop images online, and modeled the shoes myself. These were then manipulated in photoshop and composited together with after fx to produce what you see below (easier said than done). Building this piece -from concept to completion- took about another 20 hours.
{ if the movie doesn't play for you then slap that mouse over HERE }

About a dozen different things i wanna change everytime i look at it but for only 40 hours in, this initial effort in motion graphics stands tall. More to come as i figure out how, cross your fingers.

BREAK

2006-12-18T22:01:00.000-05:00

in a harrowing race against time and through painfull sacrifice in the face of impossible (and implausible) odds our antihero saves his world at the last most ludicrously melodramatic moment.
with the audience gasping in awe he kisses the girl as the credits start to roll and the theme song booms their exit, triumphantly.

and so that's that. one more school quarter under the belt.
here's to bigger and better.
off to new york for a little taste of home for the holidays.
see you when i see you.

AVATAR STATE

2006-12-08T03:34:00.000-05:00

for better or worse; took an hour away from the SISYPHEAN TASKS of coursework to watch the season finale of AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER.
make fun of me all you want (like you'd stand half a chance under cross examination) but i love me some toons, and lately it really hasn't been better than avatar. i wouldn't even know where to begin, from top to bottom it's that damn good. go watch some episodes here on YOUTUBE and see for yourself (though the beauty-as i'd imagine with any good story- is taking it in it's entirety).

now taking bets on which minute of the eleventh hour i'll be dropping the hammer and finishing all this mess brilliantly.

PROCRASTINATION STATION

2006-12-04T20:21:00.000-05:00

getting onto finals, no really any minute now, but first found something too good not to share (first for everything).
COLD HARD FLASH - is a one-stop-shop with most all you need for the flash-animated life you lead. from animations to animators, good share of tutorials, and a damn laundry list of artists and houses... it'll easily eat a few hours of your day in an interesting way.

now go kill some time there, i gotta get back to work.

168 HOURS

2006-12-03T16:42:00.000-05:00

Now entering STUDIO WEEK (see: sleep-depriving pain-threashold-surpassing slow-but-sure-mental-meltdown 168 hour endurance test), a time where the rest of the world gets pushed aside because all projects must be completed immaculately for end of quarter critique panels (see: spanish inquistion).
Basically going to pull a plethora of pure MIRACLES from out my rear and present them as the gold they must be.

So it goes:
crash. burn. reborn. triumph. rinse. repeat.

back in a week to let you know how it went.
good luck and hold steady to all classmates in the same spot.

CARRY ON.

2006-11-28T15:41:00.000-05:00

after a fierce and time-deficient competition the results are in; no pentagram internship for me.
(p.s. - PENTAGRAM is this uber-renowned firm in manhattan and these internships are highly sought-after and coveted door-opening positions within the design community, or so they say)
it's not that i wanted it persay, it's that i wanted to know i could have it.
but me not good enough for them? no, they just weren't ready for me.

mikey bierut will one day dwell in an ever-shrinking sphere of sorrow and regret over this decision but that ain't my problem.

carry on.

TRYPTOPHAN HOLIDAY

2006-11-27T01:28:00.000-05:00

crawling out from under a turkey binge. gotta love that long weekend.
classes sure to come up and pummel me back into reality any minute now tho so i'll post something pretty for all two of you soon. hold on, hold on.

this is your LIFE

2006-11-15T03:25:00.000-05:00

being a cubicle drone is one of the few crap-jobs i've never had the pleasure of working (yet..?) but thanks to LOW MORALE i think i have an idea of what to expect. Taken straight off the site:

LOW MORALE is a series of animations portraying one man's struggle to cope in the soul-sapping, will-to-live-draining, life-force mugging, morale crushing experiences of office work. any correlation between events shown and real-life have been personally researched.

check out the latest; a video for radiohead's 'creep' unplugged. painstakingly smart and a perfect fit.

...

oh, and i'll promise to finally get some work on this blog that is actually mine if you'll promise to be ruthlessly blunt in your constructive criticism of it. deal?

take a look, it's in a BOOK

2006-11-12T09:29:00.000-05:00

BOOK is a floating sketchbook project. Two artists in brooklyn, two in ireland mailed a book back and forth to eachother completing a new spread based off the previous. they did this once a week until the book was full. now it's on display.
This is by no means a new concept but the work produced is damn nice and definately worth a share. But... you don't have to take my word for it.

CUSTOM MADE

2006-11-10T02:13:00.000-05:00

okay then. trying to make this blog look more the part, break out of the template mold y'know? attempting to post more often and it'll happen. and since i know all two of you reading are a patient lot, here's a little something to reward you:

'THE BENDITO MACHINE' is an amazing flash-animated piece. creator jossie malis crafts a devilishly sly tale about power, consumption, and greed.
This guy's work floors me. you need to get out of here right now and check his site ZUMBAKAMERA for more. go.

welcome to the FOLD.

2006-10-31T00:05:00.000-05:00

getting on with it and starting my own blog.

nothing earth shattering (just yet).sure to grow tho so check back and see how long i can keep this going with my processes, ramblings and other assortedness-ness.