Rhythm And Hues Explodes!

Well, now that it is all over, the rumours of our untimely demise have been greatly exaggerated. But, it is true that there was a "large explosion" at Rhythm and Hues Studios yesterday at about noon. I was in film dailies at the time, and there was a terrific bang followed by the sound of debris landing all over the roof of the cinema, and then the power going out. I was standing near the back of the room (film dailies is packed these days as we final all sorts of work for "Chronicles of Narnia") with my buddy Rodrigo "La Velha" Teixeira, and when we heard the noise we just turned and ran outside through the loading dock to see what had happened or if we were in any danger. I honestly thought ludicrously that we had been hit by "falling plane debris" because we are so close to LAX. It is amazing what sort of ridiculous imaginings your mind throws at you in times of stress. As we exited the building there was obviously an exploded transformer or something going up in flames outside the building and it was threatening to spread to all the adjacent poles, the building, etc. So we ran back in and started to tell people they'd best get out of the building pronto. Everybody was remarkably calm. It was a horrific bang and there were probably 200 people within 20 meters of it, but everybody just calmly left the building. It was quite chaotic getting away from work, but as a result of the incident, it did afford us the day off and an afternoon of beer and quesadillas de pollo! Bueno, perfecto! Click here to check out the damage!

First Avenue Machine

All right already! Enough of the humorous anecdotes and back to the slick computer graphics! Check this out! Some very stylish use of High Dynamic Range Imaging and Ambient Occlusion. The compositing is really well done too. Nice integration, etc. But what is perhaps the most impressive is just the creative diversity represented within one coherent idea. Wheew! That hurt!

It rained...

Normally, this would not be worthy of note, but today it is... It rained in Los Angeles for the first time since I arrived in March. No kidding. There has not been one single drop of rain the entire time. People went nuts out there today. Film dailies were cancelled in the morning due to the rain! No word of a lie! I didn't see anyone at all riding into work like me (well, not that I see a lot of people anyway in the SUV Culture Capital of the word, mind you) and I got to work people said things like "did you really ride to work in the rain?!" "Did you get wet?!" and "Are you hurt?!" It was hilarious. As I woke up to a by now unfamiliar sound of rainfall I was over-joyed! I couldn't believe my reaction as I gleefully hopped on my bike to "ride in the rain" to work. Totally childish but true! I was thinking, what a foreshadowing of my impending move north to Vancouver! There is so much "negative press" about the north down here is it silly. People say all kinds of stuff without having any idea! The funny thing is here are the real statistics:

Los Angeles Annual rainfall: 380mm (15 inches)
San Francisco Annual rainfall: 508mm (20 inches)
Seattle Annual rainfall: 914mm (36 inches)
Vancouver Annual rainfall: 1117mm (44 inches)

"Good Lord," I said to myself Vancouver is "only 3 times as rainy as Los Angeles!?" What the hell? Would you have thought that the rainfall in Los Angeles was "more than half of that in San Francisco?" I wouldn't have. Here I was believing in all the hype... Maybe now I won't feel so bad when the Pacific Ocean annually attempts to relocate onto dry land in Vancouver. Dark days of winter here I come! I suppose that the rainfall in Vancouver falls over quite a few more actual days of the year which makes it feel like more rain... When it is raining outside I guess that's all that counts in people's minds, not the actuall amounts.

What I have found amusing living in Los Angeles is that the sun worshippers here absolutely cringe at the idea of being caught out in any sort of weather aside from beaming sunshine. They simply can not function in anything otherwise. Truth be told I have really enjoyed the weather in Los Angeles, but I can't say that the weather in general is something that "gets me out of bed in the morning" you know? I guess that comes from growing up soaking wet all the time and it not bothering you. Either that, or my "bred for the North Atlantic" Irish blood. Whatever the case, I can't stand the "sun or nothing" attitude down here. I think I am one of those "I need to feel the change of seasons people." I have had so many memorable times due to being "out in the weather" and I wouldn't trade those memories for any number of sure fire sunny days.

Vangroovey All Right!

Jesus Murphy! Check this action out!!!

All for a "tortilla de papas!"

The other day "mi companiero del piso" (room-mate) Raul Sanchez Ortega had a bit of a Spanish-style spazz attack whilst realizing that he had not had any "real Spanish food" for almost a year. I believe he said something like: "Estoy hasta las narizes con esta puta mierda comida rapida en Los Estados Unidos joder!" which basically translates as "I have had it up to my eyeballs with this crap American food!" So, I said, hey man, calm down, no worries, this City of Angels is what? 12 million people? Somebody out there has got to be running a Spanish restaurant with "real Spanish food." So we took to the computer and searched for such a place and low and behold we found a place in Glendale called "Spain Restaurant." Not exactly an appetizing name, but I thought, what the hell. Let's find that sucker and head on over there for some tapas. So, that's what we did. Although in doing so I once again confirmed a realization I have had about my "L.A. experience." It is not representative of the city at all... I live and work in the posh and gentile confines of the west side nearly always within sight or sound of the Marina and the beaches. This is a mere sliver of an existence. There is a heck of a lot of "yuck" out there. Due to my inherent fear of the highway (and Veronica sharing that fear) we set out to find Glendale Avenue via city streets... Before long we were lost in the abyss-like grid of Hollywood traveling slowly eastward. As I sat in the back of Raul's open jeep I thought to myself "why am I so freakin' cold!? Is this not he sunshine state? And am I not Canadian?" To cut a long story short, the ride was horrendously long and the scenery foreboding. 30 miles of concrete and low lying buildings. When we finally arrived at our chosen destination we were starving, which I have to admit helped he flavours of the food! But, the food itself was great, even if the restaurant was slightly on the sketchy side. Sort of a half take-out, half eat-in place just stuck on the side of a nondescript five-laner. Typical of L.A. We happily ate tortilla de papas, gambas al ajillo, chorizo asado en vino tinto, ensalada de Rusa, etc. All the while fearing the return journey across town... Raul has voluntarily decided not to be so touchy about the food.

Sir Lancelot Rides Again?

Click here for the latest speculation! It seems he may be at it again... Well, only time will tell if he makes the "right decision" in this case. People are already throwing out the comparison to Michael Jordan who came back only to look very human after once appearing as a god. For my part, I think this case is different. Jordan spent far too long away from his sport and came back for the money. Lance is riding on the heels of criticism and innuendo about his fabled past. He has not been out of it long (mere weeks really), and has plenty of "fresh fuel" for the fire courtesy of the unforgiving and often flagrant French press... So, entirely different circumstances. But, it still remains to be seen if one man can suffer for a living for that much longer. Even if the drug rumours are substantiated (I am in the "no way!" camp on that one) perhaps he's one of those athletes who needs to know definitively that it is over... Perhaps he feels he must be beaten to truly pass the torch. That certainly would fit his profile. Ah well, cycling in the headlines, what's wrong with that!?

For some inexplicable reason...

You ever have one of those mornings where in your semi-awake, not quite sufficiently caffeinated, cerebral haze a thought just sort of floats through... And it is gone!? Well, this morning, I snagged it on the way past! The thought was "I wonder what Bryce Duffy is doing these days?" Bryce is a dude I sort of knew during the 1980's in Victoria, B.C. Now, if Bryce and I had been closer friends back in the days of high school this thought might somehow seem pretty normal. But, the fact is that we weren't close, but only friends in the context of having friends who were friends. That kind of thing. And the vast majority of my memories of the dude revolve around his infatuation with one of the high school girls... In other words, not a lot to base a friendship on! So, here I am thinking this thought, when the omniscient internet makes itself known and I say to myself "hey, why don't I Google that $%&*er!" And low and behold Bryce's new website! Amazing... Pretty nice work too! Apparently, Bryce has become an accomplished photographer. Good on yah, dude. So, from me to you, for some inexplicable reason... The work of Bryce Duffy, old high school acquaintance.

Holy Spam Batman!

I lost my "blogger spam virginity" this week! A hilarious telephone message from my sister (thank god for family watching out for your best interests!) tipped me off to the fact there were some shall we say "disturbing" messages posted in the comments section of the previous posting. I apologize to anyone offended, but I am sure that most people would have recognized the expletive-infused gibberish as a classic spam attack. Anytime you see the phrases "get Muslim religion" and "free black p***y" used in the same sentence you know that something is up! I have changed some of my website settings to hopefully avoid this in the future.

"I walked with the Zombies..."

Okay, this is totally cool. I can't believe I missed it! I think this kind of informal public gathering is what creates the heart and soul of a place. "Vancouver, where dressing yourself as a creepy character from a B Horror film is a way of life." Amazing! And so long as nobody wrecks anything, damages property, or otherwise acts like an ass it should be totally supported in the community! An annual zombie walk, man! Everyone is so scared of breaking the law down here in Los Angeles this kind of thing would never happen. Sad. Groove on Vangroovey!!!