shhLIFE!

Today is a beautiful day.

Welcome back America.

Originally posted: Monday, 19 March 2007

Someone at work found this video from Autodesk (previously Alias) on YouTube about weta’s use of Maya..

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMM_-rYc1T8

I remember the time of this shoot… it was right after we had finished Lord of the Rings, Return of the King.  I had finished my contract at Weta and was on a two month holiday.. probably the longest vacation I’ve had since I was about 14 years old.  It was amazing.. every day I’d get up.. go for a run with the dogs along the Eastern Walkway, come back and just hang out.

About three weeks into the holiday I was sitting back on the porch in our house, drinking a gin & tonic , and listening to a Loop cd.  The sun was beating down, but there was a slight breeze, making it possible to sit out and not get immediately drenched with sweat.  The secadas were a lovely backdrop to the rhythmic beats coming from the stereo, and for the first time in nearly 15 years I realized that I was completely and utterly relaxed.

I had nothing to “get ready” for.

There was no work on monday, no “how am I going to solve this problem” thoughs running through my head.

I wasn’t stressed about what Peter was going to say about my next shot, or whether or not I’d actually be able to complete the shot in the time provided.

There were no Mel scripts to fix.

No renders to check.

No shots that could use just a little more love.

The only thing I had to do, at that moment, was scratch a tiny itch that I had on my right shoulder.

But I let it sit there for a few minutes.. just slowly itching away.. because I was enjoying doing–and thinking about–absolutely nothing.

Just the sun, a drum beat, a cold glass in my hands, and a spider slowly crawling across my shoulder that would scare the crap out of me in about 47 more seconds.

I hate spiders.

Originally posted: Monday, 02 April 2007

So I think I’m just the luckiest guy around.

Seriously.  I couldn’t have wished for a better day yesterday.  It all started a few weeks ago as I began to get prepared for hitting the big “34″.

Yeah.. that’s right.. on tuesday I turn 34.  That’s 1 year closer to 40.. only 6 years away.  eep!

So while thinking about what i wanted for my birthday, my wife and I were talking about various things I might like.. but nothing really stood out.  I mean, I’ve got most of the “little” things I want.. it’s really about making our family life easier.. you know, a nice bbq.. getting the garage finished.. putting on a second story.. hanging out with the entire family.. the types of things you can’t really “ask” for for a birthday gift.

So I kind of put it out of my mind & thought “well, maybe we’ll just go out to dinner or something.. and then use the birthday as an excuse to buy something nice for the house”.

Then on thursday I got an email from my brother inviting me to go play badminton on sunday.  I thought “hey, that’d be fun.. last time I couldn’t walk for two days, but it was good to go hang out and hit a birdie around.. but my wife & baby just got back from NZ, and I’d like to hang out with them and maybe do some yardwork or something around the house..  So I replied “yeah, maybe.. I’ll check with P and see what she says..”

Then I promptly forgot about it.

On friday night, P asked “hey, what do you want to do on sunday?”

“I dunno,” I replied. “I’ve got some work to do on the DVD series.. it’d be nice to finish recording part 2.. maybe do a bit of gardening.. go to a park with AJ.. you know, something like that?”

“Hmm.. you know, I was thinking how much fun it’d be to learn to play badminton sometime..”

“Oh!  Kyle invited me to play on sunday.. maybe we can all go?”

“Nono, you go have some quality bonding time with kyle.  It’ll be good for you guys to hang out.”

“Oh.. okay, I’ll let him know.”

So I made plans with kyle to get together around 12 to play badminton.

Saturday we cleaned up the house a bit.. did some gardening.. talked about how nice it would be if we could actually use our backyard.. maybe have a bbq the next weekend.. etc.  But our only bbq is a baby weber-q.. a tiny thing that’s kinda busted and a bit overused (since that’s all we had to cook with while we were renovating our kitchen.. for 6 months..).  But you know how it is.. you start working on a part of the house and start   thinking “hmm.. wouldn’t it be nice if…”

Then sunday P head’s off to the store & I’m watching AJ before heading off to meet Kyle for Badminton.  She gets back around 11, we kiss goodbye & I head off.

Kyle & I end up playing tennis (the badminton court was closed) and throwing around a frisbee for a bit.  I suck at tennis, so it was fun remembering NOT to use my wrist (unlike badminton & ping pong).  Around 1:30 I said “Okay, I gotta get back.. P’s going to be needing help with the baby”, so I hop in the jeep & head back home.

Pulling into the driveway I notice that my dad’s car is parked in front of the house.

Odd.. I didn’t know  that they were coming over today.. oh well, maybe they wanted to see the baby?

I get out of the car and notice the gas bottle to the bbq sitting on the front steps.  I remember that P had talked about getting it filled, so I figured maybe she had gotten it filled but left it there for me to bring upstairs (with the baby and everything, it’s sometimes easier to leave thing down at the car for whomever comes by next to bring it up).

I grab the gas bottle and start up the stairs when my dad’s wife comes down holding the baby saying “hi jason!  you have to go get some gas for the bottle!”

I look down at the bottle.  It’s pretty damn heavy, and I can tell it’s full of gas already.

“Uh.. I think it’s full..”

“No no, P says you need to go fill it up.”

Knowing I shouldn’t go against my wife’s wishes (I’m a smart husband), I get back in the car & start to back out the driveway when I notice my mom’s girlfriend and my brother walking towards the house.

Hmm.

I drive towards them and my mom’s girlfriend goes “what, you’re not coming to your own party?”

Party?

heh.

sweet.

“nope, didn’t know I was having a party..” I say as I drive off to go fill the already full gas bottle.

At the gas station, the guy tells me “This is already full.. it doesn’t need to be filled up.”  So I call home and say “hi.. the gas bottle is full.. do you want me to drive around a bit?”

My dad’s wife replies “yes!  drive around and enjoy your sunday.. for about 15 minutes or so.. and then call back..”

I smile and cruise around the neighborhood with the top down in the jeep for about 20 minutes.  We live in a very rural area, so it’s fun getting lost to see what kind of house  are back in the boonies.

After a while I call back and am told that I can come home.

So I go back home and when I get in the whole family is there with champagne.. we toast and I’m all smiles.  Then P says, do you want to see your present?

Sure!  So we head out back and lo and behold.. a brand new weber bbq.. a NICE one.. and an outdoor table and chairs and umbrella and pillows and some paper lanterns.. the whole backyard is all set up for a party!  Not only can we have a bbq.. but we can have people over and kick back and relax and actually enjoy ourselves.

So awesome.. I was so excited and stoked!  It was more than I expected and way more than I had even dreamed of.

And the best part.. it was all planned from the beginning.

When my wife got back from the store with a ton of meat she said “I thought I’d freeze this so we don’t have to worry about getting meat from the store this week..”  nope, it was for the bbq.

When I was knocking at my brother’s door and he was taking a while to respond, I thought he had been in the bathroom.. nope, he was calling everyone saying “he’s here!  Go! Go! Go!”

While we were playing tennis, my dad and his wife were hurridly putting together the new BBQ in our backyard.. in record time.

The new table was stashed at our neighbors and was quickly brought over and assembled.

The pillows had been stashed in a cupbord that I (for some reason) hadn’t looked in for the past few days.

The chairs were hidden behind the laundry.. a place I had walked past repeadedly the day before and hadn’t even noticed.

The whole badminton thing was a plan to get me out of the house.

All the comments and discussions of things to do in the backyard.. even a conversation my wife and I had about birdhouses had been specifically planned to get my reaction and see what I would say.. and of course I had said exactly what my wife had expected.

I’m just in awe of the planning and deception that went into this.

P, Kyle, Mom, El, Dad, & Leslie (and of course little AJ who didn’t give anything away, even when I tickled her).. you guys rock!  Thank you so much!

Howdy folks!

Back to it now after a lovely holiday break.Spent the entire week playing with the family and relaxing.  I had all these plans to do work.. to come up with unique topics to post.. to finish the kitchen remodel (that we started 2 years ago).. to develop my wife’s website.. to learn to draw again..

But instead I spent the time playing with the wife and kids and having a blast.

We had a ton of family gatherings.. for chanukah and for christmas.  It was great!  And of course, having the amazing Erica Berger in the family to take pics doesn’t hurt.

I do hope everyone had an amazing holiday and I look forward to speakin with you all in the new year!

More lovely pics from my cousin erica Berger!

Happy holidays everyone!

So I have now been working out consistently for about three weeks.. Hitting the gym every morning before work in an effort to create a routine I can stick to.

Today I had a 9 am meeting so I couldn’t make it to the gym until about four.. So I just finished my workout.

I am really loving http://gymimee.com for keeping track of and finding new workouts. I tend to get bored quickly and the ability to subscribe to new workouts and give them a try is really cool.

Plus, I can record every workout from my iPhone. Loving it!

Today I started a new routine that I thought would be relatively easy, but for some reason it kicked my ass. I am beat!

I don’t know if it’s the routine, or the friggin huge afghani lunch I had with the rest of the animation department.

I don’t think 5 pounds of meat and coffee prepare you well for exercise.

Ugh.

My cousin Erica Berger is one of the most fabulous photographers out there.. her work is consistently amazing.  Always blows me away.

She’s taken tons of photos of my kids, and they’re always spectacular.

Her eye is just awe-inspiring.  She is able to capture such emotion and heart and love in her work, it’s great!

And I’m happy to say that she was the photographer for a featured wedding in The Knot!  Click below to see some of her work for that wedding.. and go here for her blog!

The Knot – My Real Wedding – A Celebration of Love – Photo.

Along with focusing on time management, becoming a better supervisor, and prepping for the holidays, I am thinking a ton about character development.

I was making a bottle for toby this morning while simultaneously holding him and trying to clean his nose and I realized that ever since I became a father I had picked up a new skill.. Doing complicated actions with one hand.

It’s true.. I can now hold a squirming child with my right arm and with my left I can pour a hot coffee, mix in milk and sugar, put on a lid, and drink away all without dropping the child or spilling my hot tasty beverage.

IF one of the kids does a massive crap (if… I mean WHEN), I can somehow hold them down, distract them with a toy, take off their pants and diaper, keep their feet and shoes OUT of the crap-filled bundle of fun, grab another nappy, shove it under them, hold a doll in front of their face to distract them and keep them from rolling over, grab some wipes, clean up the poo, fold up the old nappy and poo and wipes, put on a new nappy, and redress the child all with far too few hands.

It’s a new skill!

So what does this have to do with animation?

Well, now that I recognize this skill, if I were to be animating a parent, I would know that parents can do more with one hand than non-parents.. So if given the opportunity, I should use that as an actin choice to make the character more believable.

It’s all about making the right acting choices for each individual character.. And the only way you can find out what those acting choices should be is to either live it, talk to someone who lives it, observe someone doing it, or really think about it.

Another thing I can’t wait to try and add to a shot of a parent… The daddy/mommy sway. If you’re a parent, you know exactly what I mean.

Found this lovely photo of a much younger aurora.. I love that expression!

So like I mentioned before.. I’m really trying to get in shape this time, and so far I’m keeping to my schedule!  I’ve worked out 7 days out of the past 8 (took saturday off to go to two birthday parties, and almost make it to the dreamworks holiday party).

So far I’ve lost uh.. half a pound.  D’oh!  See, I lost a full pound, then gained 2, then now I’m down to 198.5.  But supposedly your weight fluctuates all day long, and based on how much you drink, eat, poop, etc..

you get the idea.

So I guess I’m not that fussed about the weight thing.. just going to keep on kickin it with the exercise & making sure I do it every morning before I start work.

Hopefully if I keep this up then I’ll be back to a healthy 175/180 by the time siggraph rolls around.

Because Siggraph is in New Orleans this year.. and I GOTTA be fit enough to eat all those beignets..