My Son Mateo!

Well, it has taken me a week to find the time, but here he is nonetheless for all the world to see: William Mateo Peñafiel Walsh! A.K.A. Bebe Burrito, Tomateo or Mateito! Take your pick! He was born January 22nd, at 2:03 pm, after a strong 7 hour labour and weighed in at a hunk-o-burnin' love weight of 11 pounds 7 ounces! About 5.2 kilos for those of you living in the modern world. So, it appears that he will be a gentle giant like his brute of a Dad!

Here's the "birth story." Meg was blessed with a freight train of a labour which began at about 7am, when her waters broke and she immediately went into labour with strong contractions about 3-5 minutes apart. We were into Saint Paul's Hospital by about 8:15am after picking up Meg's mother who we had invited to be along for the ride. By 10am she was already 4cm dilated, and continued with good strong steady rhythm until about noon when she was 8.5 cm. By this time she had spent about half the labour walking, standing the latter half in a nice deep tub which helped immensely. Holding her hand while she experienced the contractions in the tub will be something I will always remember to draw encouragement from when times are tough. She was truly inspirational to me. The midwives then began to try to slow her down a bit, so that the last bit of dilation would go as planned, but before we knew it she was beingtransferredd to the bed so that she could begin to push little Mateo into the world. And what a job she did! I have never witnessed my Megcita be so courageous, without reservation or fear, and full of shear focus as I did on that bed. She literally willed Mateo into the world in 18 minutes! I was full of tears as his head emerged, and before I knew it he was there with us, plopped out onto Meg's chest and we were suddenly three!

Thus far the little big guy has been nothing but a pleasure. I think he thinks he is on holiday or something!? He sleeps and eats happily and he and Mom and I are spending days at home together getting to know each other. As strange as it may seem, now that he is here, I simply can't imagine what we did without him?

The Age of Aquarious Begins! Long Live The Aquarian!

Any Time Now!

Well, we are definitely into that time of the pregnancy where we are "waiting with baited breath." Meg was officially "due" yesterday. We had a trip to the midwife that was all positive for both Meg and baby. It is totally normal for first time mothers to carry their babies a little over due. So we are remarkably chilled out about it all at this stage. A friend told me "you both look like you have submitted to accepting your new future." And I guess that's very true. At this stage every little change brings about the phrase "could this be it?" And I think in our case the midwife just pointed out that Meg doesn't look all that "uncomfortable" yet and that's generally a sign that she is still a few days off. It is amazing to see just exactly how stuffed she looks and especially in Meg's case where she has literally only gained weight in her belly. She looks like she is hanging a freakin' pumpkin off the front! And yet the midwives say things like "it feels like there is still a lot of room in there!" Huh? One thing I have noticed that is really amazing is how "small" women's worlds become the further and further along they get in the pregnancy. It is like the world is closing in around them, the things they care about being the most immediate direct things around them. This manifests itself in the particular in the well known and much talked about need to "nest" in the home, but it is really stunning to see how focused your partner becomes. If anything, this extra waiting time has given us a chance to continue to adjust to our new reality! We have had a lot of support from friends and family over the past few months, and it really has made coming home to Vancouver such a great thing. So, I say "bring on the chaos man!"

"I find myself missing Vancouver more and more these days."

A friend of mine south of the border said that to me a while back. No, really! It is true I am a well known verbose fan of Vancouver. Even occasionally masochistically! For example, I was very disappointed recently when a brilliant sunny day ruined the city's chances of breaking a record going back to 1952 for most consecutive days with measurable rainfall - a mark of a true Vancouverite I thought. The statement still caused me to reflect a bit because I myself have just returned to this fair rainy twilight coast. So, if you find yourself muttering the above statement these days... Don't fret! You might want to pick yourself up a copy of this book just to tide you over if you are far afield. And remember, you know, but you're not alone in this regard! There seems to be a growing sentiment of this kind... Especially amongst my work friends. My friend James and I had many, many, conversations while working together in Los Angeles that perhaps people were just getting to that age, or time in their careers, where the intangibles outside the studio were beginning to count for more and more. I mean, it is not that people don't like other west coast places in North America like San Francisco (or L.A. surprisingly!) but there seems to be a remaining appeal to ole Vangroovey that people don't shake easily. Whereas people seem to "grow out of" L.A. or where-ever else. Is it because there is a feeling that Vancouver as a place is "growing along with you?" I wonder if Portland is more like Vancouver in this regard? Who knows? Since coming back, after three years in "bigger places," (San Francisco, Madrid, London, Los Angeles) I think that I have figured it out. Quite simply, aside from lack of a particular job opportunity (like say, Pixar in my industry, the top job or whatever in your respective industry) living in Vancouver is just kinda "better." Cheaper cost of living (though still high by Canadian standards - after all it is the San Francisco of Canada!), very diverse, multicultural, and so tolerant (much more so than even San Francisco), no guns! (relatively speaking, but hey! at least our Prime Minister is actively campaigning on "a total ban of hand guns"), politicians who can actually speak lucidly(no kidding!), way less 'religiosity' (in fact the near total absense of religious programming on television is a shock in comparison to the U.S.) a much greater sense of social well being, etc. Hence, I may say things like "I miss my social life in London." Or "even though I had an amazing job in L.A. I only really miss the dry roads." Or "I would love to live in San Francisco for a "stint" again." However, saying all that "I would NEVER trade them for Vancouver." Canada in general seems a more welcoming, less arrogant place than many in my opinion. And Vancouver really seems to be "becoming something." I don't mind the rain as some people do... I grew up in it, and it never did me any harm. Though Meg and I still plan on living in Spain temporarily at times throughout life. Ah yes, but you're still thinking about the work. I have come to realize that we have to work hard to change the "work opportunity problem" ourselves. We can't sit back and "just hope someone does something about it." The opportunities to create a Pixar are long gone, maybe even the opportunities to create a WETA are gone, but nonetheless there is 'net growth' in the computer graphics industry. I am under no illusions about my own "level," and thus I realize the imperative for a team. So it is all about creating the opportunity to do good work, in a way that we who have spent time away from this place have learned to do it, with that team... The answer to "how?" still remains fiction. We'll see.

Feature Animation Coming To Town?

Click here to read an article about the feature animation "Space Chimps," being produced by Vanguard Animation (who also gave us "Valiant" last year). There are some rumours that the production is going to settle down in Vancouver for the next couple of years. I would be interested in knowing if anyone out there knows more! Pretty exciting. Aside from both Nitrogen and Bardel Animation producing some elements of "Happily N'Ever After" in town last year (I believe the film was finished by the Berliner Film Group), I don't recall anyone ever completing a full length theatrical feature animation production in Vancouver. So, doubly interesting then, given that it will be a first. Let's see what happens on this one!