Viva Venice!

Venice
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The first person I met when Meg and I arrived in Los Angeles in 2005 was a friend of a friend named Raul Sanchez Ortego. "El Moro" to his amigos. The bizarre and wonderful thing was that we were introduced via cybernectic means by Luisma Lavin Peredo a great friend of mine from España. Luisma knew that both Raul and I were moving to L.A. at about the same time. More than that - he knew that we'd get along and become good friends. What he didn't know was that Raul would also turn out to be born and raised in a working class neighbourhood of Madrid called Vallecas. The very same neighbourhood that Meg's family is from and where Meg and I lived while in Madrid. Small world indeed. They're both Vallecanos! Que chulo!

Raul sent me this movie recently. It's a little remembrance of Venice Beach, California where we both chose to live while in L.A. As you can see Raul is a talented visual effects artist. For me it is the sense of a gritty urban feel & performance art that fits my scratchy memories of surfbaords quietly gliding through the streets and alleys of Venice as I headed off to work. Soldiers in a never ending battle against the tide of conservative life. Somehow, amidst all the air conditioned apartments, cars and office towers of Los Angeles, Venice stands virtually alone as a visceral, earthy & connected "people's place" by the sea. No where else that I saw in L.A. where people so in tune with what a neighbourhood by the sea could be. Long live the hippie freaks!

SIGGRAPH 2008 - Day 2

Although today started off a bit slow (a blessing really given the late night before courtesy of Autodesk!) it really started to pick up late morning and the conference and job fair areas were really humming. I dropped by a few booths and things while it was quiet just to check things out before the madness began. I was suitably impressed with what BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT is trying to do - 2500 people worldwide and I think on the verge of busting out of 'just games' and into something much broader. Interesting. Also, Image Movers Digital, the Robert Zemekis & Walt Disney Co. co-venture was really impressive. A nice job with concept work and getting the message about the kind of company they are across. Of course, there were the usual contenders for cool looking stuff... Lucasfilm, Pixar, R&H, etc. But I was a little surprised by the above two. The afternoon blasted by and by end of day I think I had conducted 6 or so interviews. All went well - no duds! So, I hustled off back to the hotel to get a little refreshed before the Autodesk VIP Party. Thanks to Brett Ineson for getting us on the list - and also Kerry at Annex Pro our reseller. There are loads of studios out there purchasing way more Autodesk product than we are - so I appreciate the "VIP" gesture!

SIGGRAPH 2008 - Day 1

I thought it might be interesting to jot down a few notes on this year's SIGGRAPH experience. Now, granted I have not been too much of a contributor over the years and you'd think that I would have been loads more, however, this will only be my third trip. However, I am excited because this year Image Engine will have a real presence at SIGGRAPH. The studio is represented by about 8 people: John Haddon, Greg Massie, Jason Gross, Hanoz Elavia, Vera Zivny, Stefanie Boose, and of course Peter Muyzers and myself. Not sure whom else may be coming down on their own. I will be focusing on the Job Fair where I will be interviewing candidates for jobs at the studio this fall. Should be a little crazy-busy, but fun. I will also be trying to see as many presentations as possible, meeting the odd client, etc. Okay, so today was just getting there, getting settled in, etc. As well there was a whack of stuff to deal with back on the ranch, so that occupied loads of my time. Vera, Stef & Hanoz did a great setting up the booth! And then we all headed off to take in the big Autodesk User Group meeting, presentation & party. Aside from some legitimate quibbles about the lack of truly new development in some of the core products, Autodesk put on a great show. Especially considering all of the "we're not supposed to show you this stuff" clips from various productions. I was especially impressed with a sequence from "Kung Fu Panda" that was presented in 3D for the first time. This year will be all about 3D I think. It just seems to be popping up everywhere you look and I suppose that this stage it is the last great bastion of true development in cinema. Bring it on!

August Rains

Normally, the end of July and the beginning of August in Vancouver are the most reliably dry time of year. This year, something different. We had gorgeous unseasonably warm weather at the end of June and beginning of July. And thus, in late July and early August we've had some much needed rain. I am sure the crops will be better off for it! Yet, of course there is the odd bit of pooh-poohing going on as usual. And so, for all those snivelers out there I relate the following brief story (passed on to me by Meg this week):

Calvin (4 year old boy): It's raining AGAIN. I don't want to get wet today.

Calvin's papa: Well, when it rains like this you have a choice. You can stay inside all day. Or you can just go outside, know you're going to get wet, plan on getting wet, and enjoy the day anyway.

For more rain, click here.

Watchmen

Every once in a while a film trailer is released that returns me to the days when as a young teenager I "discovered" the cinema. I remember that absolute thrill of anticipation during the "coming attractions" at the theatre that ran in front of the feature presentation. What will be coming out next? Now the experience seems cluttered with "trivia" which is really moronic and dull slides. Call me a purist, but there were times where the experience of the film's trailer superseded the experience of the film. Before it all became so clichéd. When the feeling of "I just can not wait to see that film!" was all consuming. Remembering and holding on dearly to the memory of that experience has served me well. An excited glimpse of one possible future urging you to return to the cinema another day... With that, I give you the film I have more anxiously waited for than any other this year... Watchmen!

Vive Le Tour!

It's that time of year again! Ah yes... the storied history of the racing bicycle, the gorgeous landscape of the most cultured country on earth, the triumph of shear personal will against intolerable amounts of self-inflicted pain... And performance enhancing drugs, of course. I can remember watching the Tour de France "recaps" on CBC Sports Television as a kid, during Greg Lemond's era, and later watching the stages daily during summer rowing travels in Europe (I spent several weeks in France in July of 1994 and every evening was spent recovering while watching the tour). However, it wasn't until Lance Armstrong's famous "look back" at the base of Alpe D'Huez in 2001 that I got hooked. I was on a cycling tour in France with Meg at the time. And I was near a town called Anduz in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It was hot as hell and I was crammed into a little roadside cafe at midday, or was it a cafe in the camp site? I can't recall... However, I can remember perfectly the gestures of shock and enthusiasm (a little old fellow in a black beret screaming "Mon dieu c'est incroyable!" at the TV set) as Armstrong scaled that famous climb - seemingly inhumanly - as he first looked back to Ullrich, his German nemesis, and then tore off to victory. There is only one word to describe that moment in the tour's history: awesome. Regardless of the plague of recent doping scandals (which Armstrong was never touched by during his career, but have lived on in his retirement via the rumour mill) and the very uncertain future of a sport that have always had a certain flair for the unexpected, unintended, I will watch this year again hoping against reason for 'a good result.' It is impossible to tell whether or not the sport has finally come clean, or if that even matters these days in professional cycling. But the lure of the most difficult of human athletic feats, the grand scale of the event, the magical images it creates year upon year, will captivate me again as it has many more cyclists over the years. I will leave you with one of the great battles on the switchbacks of Alpe D'Huez! Vive Le Tour!

Where the Hell is Matt?

This is positively the silliest thing I have seen in years - and I love it.
Check it out - you'll smile - I promise.

EugeniusD80's Photos

Hey! Check out this interesting photostream. Definitely not your run of the mill web photography here folks! Some gorgeous colour work here.