Family Week

I took all last week off since my mom & brothers were in town for Ariel's birthday and general Vancouver sightseeing. Much more to see at Jay's blog but here are some highlights...

Ariel tries to get Jonathan's attention. Look at me! I'm cute!

We are very bad brothers.

Everybody look at my Mommy!

Ariel loves her Grammy...

...and Uncle Dan.

Is your liver lazy? I've often wondered about mine.

GIMMEE A DRINK AND MORE FRICKIN' CAKE!!!

My Little Puppetoon is One!

My little Ariel-
A year ago today I was breathing a sigh of relief that you had finally arrived after waiting so long. After all this time, I still look at you and wonder if you're really here. It's amazing to me how much you've grown and changed, and I've loved being able to show you the world and let you learn who Mommy & I are...and how much we love you. Always remember that since before you were born you've been surrounded by people who love you. Not just people you can see and touch, but a whole community of "fans" who have watched you grow through our blogs here. Remember that whenever you feel alone.

I look forward to the years ahead, when we won't only be able to play as we have this year, but also begin to talk, teach, learn and reason through life together...and of course, watch cartoons! You've brought me lots of joy, and it's barely even started.

Happy Birthday my little Puppetoon...don't grow up too fast!
Much love,
Daddy

New Stop-Motion Dialogue

Ta-dah! It's Stop-Motion Dialogue film #6, from my latest class at VanArts. Some really great puppets, sets and ideas from these guys. Enjoy!

Family Time

Time to take a break from animation and see what's going in the rest of my life. (what? I actually have one? Yes!) Had my Aunt Nancy, Uncle Bill and cousins Ryan & Trevor over for awhile last night, since they're all in Bellingham for a music festival. So glad it worked out for them to come see us, after spending a day sightseeing in Vancouver. Ariel took a liking to them right away, just like last time we were in Michigan...she loves attention, and was again quite drawn to Trevor. Must be a generation-transition thing.






In other Ariel news, she's only just started to walk and already she's levitating too! Makes Criss Angel look like the Amazing Mumford.

At a loss for words...

I finally forced myself to check out the new Alvin & the Chipmunks trailer with those sad CG abominations in it....I wish I hadn't. As a long-time fan of their records and cartoon show, I feel like I've watched old friends executed before my eyes. The TV intro takes me back to the exact feeling in my childhood basement every Saturday morning. You won't find any links to the new trailer here, cuz it's not worth watching, so here's my tribute to how they were, thanks to whoever posted these.



...and this clip, though slightly disturbing at times, is a highlight from their feature film, a strange mix of iffy TV-quality animation and great rubbery feature-quality animation by some very talented animators (Glen Keane, for example) right before the early-90s boom.

Finland Podcast

Recently an animator from Finland, Juha Niemi, interviewed me for his filmmaking podcast.

You can find the KinoSilmä podcast from iTunes store or from the
webpage:
http://koskisuomi.tunk.org/

Here is also a direct link for the file:
http://koskisuomi.pp.fi/kinosilma/KinoSilma20070726.mp3

Starts with an introduction in Finnish, then moves on to the interview. Sorry I'm so frickin' long-winded.

Enjoy!

Another Mystery to Solve...

I'm all YouTube-happy these days, trying to find obscure puppet animation goodies and compile research. Here's another commercial with some great animation, but not sure who created it. This is all like detective work!

The original poster of this clip says the puppets are from 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' which is very strange. They look nothing like those characters...I mean, I know Rudolph drank lots of beer, what with the red nose and all, but I see no basis for comparison otherwise.

Work as a Gift

This morning I saw my friend Walt on the bus going to work and had a great little chat. For anyone reading this who doesn't know Walt, a diving accident at age 17 left him paralyzed from the neck down, so he gets around in a state-of-the-art tube-powered wheelchair, and he and his wife Wendy have two adopted children from China. They are a wonderful family with great strength and faith, and they're very inspiring people.

Today Walt said something which didn't really resonate with me until I got off the bus at the end of the day coming home...just sort of hit me. I had asked him how work was going (which is something guys always ask each other for some reason), and he admitted there were some awkward changes going on with social workers and the government, etc....but he topped it off with "that job's been a gift for 20 years." Now I've had moments when my job at the school seems unfulfilling and thought to myself how I wish I could do something full-time that would help me grow more as an artist and use my talents more, like working in animation or as a full-time writer, or something. But wise sages like my wife and pastor have often helped me to remember to appreciate the opportunities that my job does give me, and rightly so. But this time, just the way Walt worded it, about a job as a "gift" just resonated with me in a different key. Before too long it will be 10 years of my life I've spent at VanArts, and by staying there, I've been able to travel, meet famous animators & historians who I admire, get married and start a family, and still make films, write books, and animate by freelance on occasion! So it's a pretty good trade-off for some of the stress I've had to deal with at work at times. Like any gift worth having, you take the good with the bad, and things always change and grow into different opportunities worth waiting for. I may not always feel that way, because feelings change depending on how you roll out of bed. But these feelings of gratitude always tend to blossom after those periods of whining...it's the way of the world.

So I leave you with that little morsel of soul munchies, in whatever you do as your daily grind, try thinking of it as a gift and see how it changes your perspective.

Spring Fever!

In the animation history book Animation Art edited by Jerry Beck, there's a Jam Handy short mentioned called 'A Case of Spring Fever' which always intrigued me. From the stills in the book I thought it might be a live-action/stop-motion short, but I found out it's actually 2D animation.

Recently found it, but it's more entertaining with the MST3k guys watching along.

My Past Pseudo-Self in the Future which is Now Past

Jay found this video on YouTube and was telling me I had to see it, because it reminded her of the videos I used to make in my younger days. She's right...this kid is very much like I was at that age. Maybe he's an animator now? This was made by someone who was 12-years-old in 1991. It's a bit long but funny, and with Weird Al and Michael Meyers together, you can't go wrong can you? It's exactly the kind of demented music-video stuff I used to do with my brothers & friends back in the late 80s/early 90s.

Sit back and enjoy if you dare...and if you're checking in on my brain let me know.

Killer Tomatoes Preston Blair Swipe

A "Preston Blair Swipe" is when somebody rips off a drawing from the Animator's Old Testament, the 'Cartoon Animation' book, and usually uses it for an advertisement or window display, or something. In this case, we have an entire sequence of drawings used as uncanny "reference" for whoever animated the 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes' TV cartoon. Jay had this on a VHS tape from her youth, and I spotted it a few years ago...it's taken me awhile to get around to posting it, but I was inspired by the ultimate PB Swipe that Steve found in Michigan.

Ripping off these poses almost injects a little bit of decent animation into this, but not quite. It's pretty painful regardless.

Cute 1950s Stop-Motion Short

While browsing YouTube on my lunchbreak I found this delightful stop-motion short from the 1950s, which apparently was an annual TV favorite in Chicago! If anyone knows who animated this, please let me know!

Last Friday...the 13th

By the way, last friday was the 13th so as tradition would have it, I hosted a random screening of rare strange animation for the students. Here's what I showed:

-Don Hertzfeldt's Animation Show opening
-Mighty Mr. Titan (from Jerry Beck's Worst Cartoons Ever)
-Film!Film!Film! (Russian short by Fyodor Khitruk I found on DVD at a dollar store)
-Now You Tell One by Charley Bowers
-Don Hertzfeldt's Intermission in the Third Dimension
-Flebus by Ernie Pintoff
-The Peanut Vendor
-The scary Jolly Green Giant Commercial
-Fumi & the Bad Luck Foot
-Don Hertzfeldt's Animation Show Closing

A good time was had by all.

Awesome Film!!!

One of the 2D animation students (Thanks Marcus!) at the school just showed me this film today during my stop-motion class. It's one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen...the posing, the clay! And a wonderful message...appears to be that the world of diversity in color invades the 'set-in-their-ways' Pharisse-like "whiteys" in order to create a beautiful cake! Hmmm...rather spiritual?

Looks like they might have done some replacement animation using 2D reference and sculpted 'Puppetoon'-ish puppets for each frame. It's very much along the lines of a film idea I have kickin' around in my head for a future film project.

I don't hesitate to say that this film might have just changed my life.

The Face of Evil

I'm very disturbed to say that the Peanut Vendor has just been demoted from the title of 'Creepiest Puppet Film Ever Made.'

I didn't think it was possible. This is far worse.

Don't watch this.

Hollywood Jesus Ratatouille Review

At long last, I've contributed my latest review for Hollywood Jesus with my reflections on the spiritual lessons of Ratatouille.

Happy Canada Day Weekend!

Yes it was, so why not take a picture? It'll last longer...

To my own Queen of Six

Dear Janet-
Thank you for 6 wonderful years of having you as my wife! I'm so proud of everything we've accomplished together, and you continue to inspire me, make me laugh, and just make me feel grateful for all we have! You are wonderful and I love you with all my heart.

Happy Anniversary
Love Ken

Platform Day 4

Thursday, after checking out of le hotel, the first order of businesss was to get some breakfast. I wandered into the Oliver Twisted restaurant across from the festival venue, where I had eaten twice before already. This time nobody came to serve me...I sat there for over 5 minutes watching the staff ignore me so I left and got a muffin & coffee back at the venue instead.

Then got to sit in the "Statler & Waldorf" section where the filmmakers go, as part of the present crew for the Librarian film. It was very well received and fun to see on the big screen. After that I dashed over to the 'Job or no Job' panel and distributed the rest of my VanArts brochures to the many students attending. The last main event I attended was the Aardman Presenation with David Sproxton, which was fantastic and great to watch live action video references of Nick Park acting out scenes from the Were-Rabbit movie. Also got to see the actual Wallace & Gromit (and Lady Totty) puppets in person...who would have thought that such tiny puppets would be swarmed by a huge crowd flashing their cameras? Would "Pupp-arrazzi" be an appropriate term? (har har har) That's one of the main things missing from CG, as fun as it may be to watch, there are no artifacts to display as part of it.







I also got to meet Stephen Chiodo and gave him a copy of my book...incredibly nice guy and I look forward to staying in touch with him for help on future book projects. Also spoke with Imogen Sutton (Richard Williams' wife) and heard about the DVD project they're working on, which sounds awesome. Whereupon thereafter I had to head back home, but overall the festival was a fantastic opportuniy to get so many great people together and celebrate the art of animation. The films, from what I did see, were a mixed bag but mostly wonderful, but the best part of these events is really the people. I feel blessed to have gotten to know so many people this week who are doing great things in the animated realm. I look forward to next year!

In other news, I've created a NEW BLOG for the production of 'Storytime with Nigel', yesterday we had a succesful grad for the VanArts June group, and Ariel's face when she finally saw me after all this time was a real priceless treasure! We went to an outdoor film festival screening of Grease last night with Jack & Stella. Looking forward to the rest of them!

Platform Day 3

Wednesday was relaxing and enjoyable. Upon arriving at the venue I got to hang out with Steve's student Jared who is helping him with Kinex Studios research, and I got to see a few more of the films in their entirety. They're so ingenious for their time so we gotta find out more about them!

At the Animators Picnic I got some advice for my next book from Amid Amidi and got to chat with David Sproxton, Steve Segal (in photo checking out the book) PES and David Levy, plus several animation students doing stop-motion and other projects, and people from Laika. Good times all around.



Afterwards was a very good presentation from Amid on Tom Oreb, good burgers for dinner with Micah & Galen and more competition films, most of which were abstract and weird, and the Animation Show with Don Hertzfeldt. Always great to see those films with a crowd. After that I was interviewed for some kind of rotoscoping video project and was asked if cartoons can save the world. I responded that cartoons are the only thing that can possibly save the world, besides Jesus...but that the two go hand in hand. Well, time to get going to today's events and the long drive home!

Platform Festival Day 1 - 2

Today is Day 3 of the Platform Animation Festival in Portland OR, which has been really great so far. I didn't bring my own camera, as it would be wrong to deprive picture-taking of Ariel for even more than a day, but (EDIT) I now have some pictures courtesy of Galen Fott and Ward Jenkins to jazz it up! (Thanks guys!) I drove down on Monday through only a moderate delay at the border and a very pleasant drive. Upon entering the US I felt compelled to blast the Dixie Chicks on the stereo, and man, the first track on that CD just fed my soul! It's rare when a song can actually do that...'Taking the Long Way Around' I can certainly relate to. I feel I've done that in many ways, trusting God to offer his timing into the circumstances in my life.

So upon arriving into Portland and settling into the ultra-modern Jupiter Hotel, I found my way to the Performing Arts Centre and met former VanArts comrades Galen Fott & Micah Baker for dinner and the opening screening. The Librarian from the Black Lagoon film we worked on together will be showing here on Thursday.

(VanArts Animators Unite! Galen Fott, myself and Micah Baker)

The mayor of Portland kicked off the films, many of which were amazing. Highlights included: The Danish Poet (funny, uplifting and reflective on the mystery of life...good candidate for my own festival program ideas), Black History Toons (SNL hilarity), The Pearce Sisters (from Aardman...everybody's talking about this one! CG models with beautiful drawn textures...creepy but endearing in a weird way), Apnee (beyond description), and Storyville (finally! Someone found a way to make a 1930s cartoon in 3D! If I were a CG animator, that's the kind of film I'd make.)

Afterwards was the opening night party. Right away I ran into Will Vinton, who told me he has been using my book for reference. That's a comment you take to the bank! I'm still recovering from that. Also chatted with Tom Knott, Jerry Beck, Amid Amidi and Ward Jenkins. Jerry gave me some encouraging words about my next book project, so the road is beginning to be paved...

Then was a show-down screening of comedy films vs. abstract films with Bill Plympton and Joanna Priestly. As much as I love a good laugh, I think the selection of abstract films was stronger than the comedy ones. Very good spirited screening overall...if you turn away and just listen to Bill Plympton's voice, you'd think it was Norm McDonald up there. Very funny.

Highlights from Tuesday were meeting up with friends Lindsey & Bill and their little girl Brooke for breakfast. They're doing so well, and we had lots to catch up on and talk about, comparing our 'lives with a little girl' stories and plans for the future. Next year hopefully the whole family can come down with me and Ariel will make a new friend! Then checked out some more competition films and met with a girl named Devon who is interested in VanArts; very interesting conversation as she also has an autistic brother and is interested in exploring how animation can be used to explore their psyche and their world. Then chatted with Galen about animation training for kids and how it was important to re-iterate the importance of drawing and art from an early age, so that they understand the process of animation rather than only the final computerized product. Then as irony reared its pretty head, the following screening of films 'By Kids For Kids' was all built (using the exact same words) around that very philosophy, including some films made by autistic children. That was particularly inspiring, and gave me a vision for another dream.

(Galen & I discuss the future of animation...)

Next I ended up talking with Peter Lord (see photo) and his family, and showed him my book. He seemed very impressed and proceeded to buy a copy from me! That was quite a thrill, to say the very miniscule least!

Then reeling in joy I checked out some of the Modern Design films, stopped into Powells Books and drooled over all of the rare animation books I couldn't afford but managed to buy at least two reasonably priced ones, and the Educators Reception at Ai of Portland, where I met some great people from Laika and other schools, including saying hello to John Canemaker. (I told him there were rare Disney books at Powells and his eyes lit up...later I ran into him on the way back to the festival venue and found out he had bought six of them. Always glad to help.) Then more films and screenings as my eyes grew heavy and deep...had to crash! This is lots of fun, though I miss my girls terribly this morning and hope to have them with me next time.

On to the next adventure...

Father's Day

This past Sunday was my first Fathers' Day and featured many of my favorite things: pancakes & coffee in bed, a new collection of Police songs, film discussions, church, food, nap, more food, and music (namely updating my ipod, which I'm currently doing some more of, importing Pink Floyd at present.) It was a great day and I'm a happie daddie.



Ariel is growing into quite the little turkey. Tonight we had a bath and she left a little present behind in the tub, creating a little Caddyshack moment.

Work is mellow now that audit is over...one more day plus a teaching Saturday, then Sunday and it's off to Portland for a few days. Expect a full report.

Parenting is all about balance...

One of the things I used to worry about before Ariel came along, and still do from time to time, is how will I manage to find the time for all the other projects I have yet to finish? Like my film, the documentary, another book, movie reviews, saving the world, etc, etc, etc...? Well, time is a funny thing, says the Mad Hatter, 'If you knew Time as well as I do, you wouldn't talk about wasting it. It's him.' Who knows what he meant, but does it matter? Clean cup! Move down!

Anyway, things have a way of working out, especially after the angel finally goes to bed. As I sit here I look at a big-ass stack of animation paper ready to be shot. Outside of a few scenes out being in-betweened by Steve, there's not much else left on Nigel. As far as my next book goes, after getting some advice from various historian friends at Platform, I'll send off my proposal and see what happens. Until then, the regular evening walks with my girls are really the best part of each day, and make all the waiting and chipping away at the rest of life worth it. Our little peanut turned 10 months today, and it's amazing how she's really starting to look like a little girl rather than a baby, or a fish...or Skeletor. Anyway, tonight was one of those nights when I really felt like a dad. Walkin' through our little village with my caramel frap, pushing Ariel in her swing, life is pretty nice in those moments...

Baby Movies

This is part of a series of short films by an Australian couple about their baby. Brilliant stuff...all the more reason we need a Mac, or at least an easier way to make films instantly like this.

Grandpa

Engineer worked at Ford, Hudson's

The Detroit News

Robert A. Priebe, a former longtime Dearborn resident, loved all things mathematical and had the respect of family and friends.

Mr. Priebe's son, Robert Jr., said his father will be remembered as a diligent man who had a gentle side.

"Family was very important to him both extended and immediate," Priebe said. "He was a guy who was always fair. He was soft-spoken and always won the respect of everyone he met both professionally and socially."

Mr. Priebe died Friday, May 4, 2007 at his home in Prescott, Ariz., of coronary insufficiency as a result of metabolic syndrome. He was 81.

Mr. Priebe was a graduate of Fordson High School in Dearborn and a graduate of Lawrence Institute of Technology where he earned an industrial engineering degree in 1951.

Mr. Priebe worked at several Metro Detroit corporations, including Ford Motor Company where he worked in Brussels at Ford International during the early 1960s.

He also worked at Chatham supermarkets, Brooks & Perkins engineering firm, and the J.L. Hudson department store chain.

Mr. Priebe's family said he loved mathematics and took great satisfaction in solving problems, including monthly spreadsheets of his investment portfolio, balancing his checkbook and preparing his annual income tax forms.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Mr. Priebe was a member of the Lions Club in Arizona and served as chapter president.

In 1994, the Lions Club awarded him the Melvin Jones Fellowship, the highest honor given to a member for his commitment to humanitarian causes.

Mr. Priebe and his wife Mary, who died in 2002, moved to Arizona in 1986.

A big Detroit Tigers fan, Mr. Priebe gradually put his loyalty behind the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Survivors are his son, Robert Jr.; a daughter, Carol Ann Roseman; a sister, Rose Marie Bala; a brother, Edward; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

A funeral Mass was held last week at St. Germaine Catholic Church in Prescott Valley, Ariz.

Interment was in Heritage Memorial Park in Dewey, Ariz.

Memorial tributes may be sent to the American Heart Association, 2929 South 48th St., Tempe, AZ, 85282.

Becky: My New Hero

Our radio station has crossed over to new management playing the same crap, which is rather pointless and I will miss our DJ friends. Jay is very upset over losing them. I don't get why this always happens. Some people are dumb.

Anyway, whenever this kind of thing goes on, there is a day in-between where they play all kinds of weird stuff like novelty records and comedy bits, etc. Now THERE'S a concept! Why can't we have a station that's like Dr Demento-stream-of-consciousness stuff all the time? I would rather listen to that. As a result of listening in last night to the strange radio filler, I discovered a sound clip from this 8-year-old girl named Becky who is a radio personality in Ireland! This is the one they played:

And luckily, there's more! If you need a laugh, this is the place to return to:

More Becky

And More Becky!

Squishy goodness

Enrollment seems to be moving along and going up at work which makes life a whole lot less stressful...at least until it starts getting warmer! Gotta keep them caffeinated fluids goin. Looking forward to upcoming events, the annual Pixar presentation, family gatherings and special moments, 6-year anniversary with my lovely wife, 1-year birthday with our lovely little girl, and the Platform Festival in Portland. I'm reminding myself to stay plugged in to God and be so grateful for all that I have and the neat connections and opportunities that come our way.

A new review of my book has been posted on Michael Sporn's blog, one of my daily web visits.

Spread the Stop-Motion Madness!

I found some animation done by a reader of my book in the US...pretty surreal to see it applied!

Mexico Book Review

My book has been reviewed in a recent issue of Onderfilm magazine in Mexico, published by my friend Ricardo Torres at Golem Producciones. It's all in Spanish so I had a student at VanArts translate it for me:

It has became relatively simple to do animations: a web cam, a PC of last generation and done, you have your first project. However, doing a quality animation with this kind of technique, its still complex and requires a lot of knowledge in different areas like chemistry, mechanics and anatomy. The best way to learn how to do professional projects, its taking a course, a lot of practice and a lot of good reading about the subject. Believe it or not, these last ones are scarce.

The Art of Stop Motion Animation is a new book that talks about this form of animation
with a didactic point of view. Unlike other publications which are descriptive and informational, this book contains exercises that you can do to obtain better results on screen. Ken Priebe, the author of the book, has been a stop motion instructor for more than 7 years, and in these pages you can find the knowledge gained in those years. Also the author enhances the content by doing interviews to people with a vast experience in the studies of animation and the details of the world of stop motion that so far have been great mysteries.

According to Ken, this book focuses en la in the construction of characters, it also talks about which is the best way to get involved in the process of animation and it helps you by giving you tips about the cameras, programs, and plasticine that you should use. " I believe that is important that people have a greater visual reference so they can start their way in the media. Stop Motion is hard work there are thing that work and things that don't. I don't want to touch every single detail, for that you would need a whole bookcase " Ken commented for underfilm.

Looking at the book, you will find that technology has come to evolve since animation was invented; Today we rely on certain tools and tomorrow may be others. everyday is less important which camera or which computer you use to achieve a project with great quality.
" Technology is impressive nowadays but its far away for being the answer for everything. Just because you have the best digital equipment does not mean that you are going to create an excellent animation, you can do a great job with just a webcam. there are people that know all about the tools but do not know how to use key concepts like poses, timing and character design. This is something that takes a long time to learn." Assures Ken.

Nick Park, creator of Wallace and Grommit, a year ago said for underfilm that right now there more people hired to do stop motion than in any other time in history. a great industrial movement is developing in Europe and North America since the production of movies and television series. In Toronto Canada, Cuppa Coffee studios has just been classified the largest stop motion studio in the world. The animator, specialist in this technique are considered by the industry like a rare thing to find; However,every day the gap between producers and artists is closing thanks to the internet. " I posted some of the animations my students made on you tube , and received several mails from animation productors interested in putting them on T.V
It is a lot easier nowadays to show a work. when i went to Mexico, I saw a lot of interest in stop motion, and i believe its because their culture is very handcrafted, people like to do thing s with their own hands. All these people have now access to the same technology and the same exhibition quorum as the others. Now you have to worry about learning and training about how to make professional animation. this is the way there will be more and better animators, art will get stronger and become more popular. My book talks about the best way to get yourself inside the world of stop motion", Ken concluded.

Enter my 80s Brain!

Since I'm in the blogging spirit, for no other reason at all here's some random awesome-ness from my childhood psyche courtesy of YouTube.

This is one of the most brilliant pieces of animation & music used together, actually from the 70s...old school Sesame Street!


The original 80s HBO Logo...


Recently re-discovered the best 80s Disney shows ever...

Wuz gowan own wif Ken?

Since I very rarely blog, it's time to catch up! it's monday...i have today off....i've been dusting, vacuuming, neglecting hygiene, staying in my jammies and working on dubbing for a DVD trade with someone off the SMA.com message board....i'll be getting some good stuff in return....useful for my next book project....shhhhhh! it's a secret. nah, not really....thinking of doing a book on stop-motion history, cuz nobody else seems to be doing it and i think it's interesting so what the hell, it be fun! got 'puppet animation in the cinema' and 'making of king kong' from the library recently to help.

film class at sunday school has been fun....had Kevin Miller as a guest speaker last week talking about the Hero's Journey; very fascinating stuff and helped me bring around full circle many of the themes i've found in movies. speaking of movies, we rented 'Shut Up and Sing' the other day and loved it! I like the Dixie Chicks, they sing good. Working on my film a little bit too.

overall i like life. you should try it too...it's life. it's good.

and now, Ariel likes to dance. I just had deja vu when posting this.

Good-Bye Grandpa Priebe

Dear Grandpa-

I'm sorry we didn't get to say good-bye in this life, so this letter will have to do. I'm sad that you left so suddenly and I won't be able to call you and hear the usual..."OH HEY KEN! OK, LET ME CALL YOU BACK!" :)

First of all, I want to thank you for all the memories I've been blessed to have with you as my grandpa. I still remember many things about all the visits to your house in Dearborn, how I loved the cuckoo clock on your wall, and how you and Grandma always welcomed us with open arms. I was always sad to leave. Visits to our house always would come with gifts of Dunkin Donuts and your little one-finger tickle to my belly. I also remember the visits to pizza places and Greenfield Village, and memories of those places are always reflected with being with you and Grandma. These memories are great, but even more special to me are the many visits I made to see you in Arizona during my college years. This was the time when I really started to get closer to you and learn more about the person you are. I could always count on you to just listen to my dreams, my concerns or whatever else was on my mind. I enjoyed watching old movies with you and sharing new ones as well. You had a kindness and a curiosity and openness to everything, and calm understated contentness with life that to this day I find very inspiring, and as I get older I find myself becoming more like that.

I'm so glad you were able to visit me and Janet here in Ladner and connect with family members here, and I'm especially thankful that you got to meet our little Ariel. Even though she was too young to remember, we'll make sure she doesn't forget.

Although I wil miss you dearly, it comforts me to know that you and Grandma are together again, because I know how much you missed her. So until we meet again, thank you for our history, yesterday and today. I love you with all my heart.

Ken

Sunday

Had a good day yesterday...in the morning was my much-anticipated and obsessively-prepared-for first Sunday School class for my 'Faith & Film' series. Basic gist of the class was looking at 'Garden State' and breaking down the symbolism therein. I think I might take everything from the class and make it into an extended visual review for HollywoodJesus sometime soon.

Afterwards, spent the afternoon playing with Ariel and watching some more movies. Saw bits & pieces of 'Man of the Year' but it couldn't really hold my attention. I thought Robin Williams' character was extremely under-developed...he wasn't really acting or playing a character, but more played himself. The film seemed to me an excuse for mixing political statements with recycled Williams jokes...much of the material I remembered from his stand-up acts. And on top of that was a completely unrealistic romance (?) of sorts with Laura Linney, who I can't stand in any film I've seen her in...same with Holly Hunter....they always play the same annoying strung-out characters you just want to reach into the screen and put a muzzle on. So anyway, not much to report on there.

Later on I watched 'Flushed Away' in two parts since I fell asleep and needed to pause for an intermission. I liked it, but wasn't really into the story or characters enough to love it. Still worth another viewing. Animation was fun to watch, in that the Aardman style was very much intact. I've tried looking for some information on how they made it look like stop-motion, all jerky at times...did they use replacement models? Can't seem to find anything except featurettes on the voice actors. Dreamworks sucks.

Iris Out on Michigan for now

Back to BC! The whole trip has been amazing...quite likely the best we've had. Ariel was a good girl and everybody loved her. It's sad needing to leave, but we'll be back. We're headed back with so much stuff, we needed to borrow an extra suitcase.

On Monday I got to visit College for Creative Studies and present my work and my students' work, and hang out with Steve and his students. It was a great time...several students there were incredibly talented. It was also re-assuring to know that the same politics and inane management decisions go on even at large schools like this one, based on the conversations I heard around the campfire. Makes my job seem more normal, I guess you could say. It was a shame that Larry Larson couldn't make it in, but there will be other times for that. I was glad to see Frank Beaver make the effort to come by and visit, and especially the chance meeting with Jim Pinard as well. My second presentation had been cancelled due to all the students coming to the first one instead, so instead we hung out in the classroom and then went up to the office so Steve could tie up some loose ends getting ready for his history class. Jim just happened to catch me as I was going out the door! A rather divine moment of excellent God-timing...I guess He really wanted us to meet....glad too, as we had an amazing chat over coffee. This mysterious "maker of the egg film" I felt was very much on the same page as myself, so we had great talks about our lives, film, God, CS Lewis, and all those other things that matter.

Looky, a triangle of babies! This was one of the events of the trip I was most looking forward to...seeing Jeff & Marie and getting our girls together for playtime. The twins, Kasia and Moira, are beautiful babies and it's nice to know that Ariel will have some friends to bond with over the years when we visit.

Here's some more pictures of various family ties...Ohana, Part II...

Ariel with my 2nd cousin Lisa's kids (Brett, Megan, & Trent) and 1st cousin Sara's little Aeron. So this is 3rd, 4th cousins, or something...ehh, just cousins, all of 'em. Brett reminds me of Daniel at that age; very quirky and creative.

Angels and Demons: Ariel with Uncle Dan

Here's me, Ariel and my brothers with an R2D2 mailbox we found in Greektown! Rather appropriate, since Detroit is typically the Mos Eisley of the USA...'You may never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.' I have to admit though, compared to what I saw growing up, it appears to be under-going a Special Edition digital update.

And other random image-ness...

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

I like any bottle label with a chicken on it.

Ohana

Ariel, her new singing teddy bear, and her Great-Grammy Ambrose.

4 generations of Ambrose blood!

Me with my Uncle Bill...no, wait, that's my cousin Ryan.

Ariel and her 'Great-Aunt' Nancy, in every sense of the word.

My Own Little Garden State

I'm here in my ol' home town and having a blast. Jay has many more details on her blog as usual, so I figure I'll give my Kennish commentary and post some awesome pictures.

Hey Fozzie, I want you to turn left at the fork in the road.

Everybody suck on a spoon and see how awesome my brother is.

We've learned on this trip that Ariel LOVES dogs, even fake ones.

I would love to create an entire book of photos with me standing next to every giant mouse with a piece of cheese throughout the country. I now have two pages, since I found another one in Wisconsin almost 10 years ago. The search continues...

My two favorite frau-lines wander through und village de Deutchland...or Frankenmuth.

Tonight I entertained a random decision to see the newly-released Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie with Brother Dan and Good Friend Brandon. Holy crap, was that twisted and somehow brilliantly funny. Not sure what it means for the future of animation, but who cares? It's not Pinocchio but it's not supposed to be. College stoners need art too. A good time was had by all...been a long time since I saw a film like that with that kind of crowd.

Being here at home to catch up with Michigan familiars with my BC family is so much the best of both worlds. I feel alive, and the best is yet to come.

Michigan Trip

The big visit is coming soon!

Mon 9- bussing to Seattle, flying out 10pm.
Tues 10- arriving in Detroit at 5am...ugh (red eye flight!)
Wed 11- goin' to Frankenmuth with the family
Thur 12- returning sometime evening-ish.
Fri 13- chillin' at home
Sat 14- chillin' at home, plus family gathering for dinner
Sun 15- chillin' at home
Mon 16- Me going to College of Creative Studies as a 'guest artist!'
Tues 17- Ann Arbor to see friends and another family gathering
Wed 18- chillin' at home mostly, visiting Mom's classroom
Thur 19- flying back

ASIFA Book Review

My book has recently received a new plug from ASIFA Hollywood. I had a review copy sent to Larry Loc who is putting together a Stop-Motion Expo on April 21 in Los Angeles. The review is posted here...

I'm a little bit confused by the comments on the dope sheets, as I made it clear in the text what their purpose was. I know that stop-motion can be done without dope sheets, all straight-ahead (I didn't use dope sheets at all for Snot Living) but for certain things like dialogue and the morph, it is absolutely necessary. But otherwise it's a generous review and I'm glad for the publicity, especially since the timing of the Expo itself is not convenient. If it wasn't at the tail-end of our Michigan trip I would have loved to make it down there. But there will be other opportunities like this another day.

Speaking of Snot Living, I finally got a digitally re-mastered version from Steve so it will soon be making its 10th Anniversary Special Edition debut!

Stop-Motion Dialogue #5

The latest collection of dialogue from my stop-motion students!

Cow Town

Well I'm goin' down to Cow Town,
A cow's a friend to me,
Lives beneath the ocean,
And that's where I will be,
Beneath the waves, the waves,
And that's where I will be,
I'm gonna see the cow beneath the sea...

-They Might Be Giants

You might have guessed I'm in Calgary! Came here to do some info sessions for VanArts, and tomorrow it's the same thing in Edmonton. Whirlwind trip, but nice to have a change of pace all the same. I miss my girls though. It's lonely on the road.

Anyway, back to reality before too long, and our Michigan trip gets closer and closer. A world of huzzah.

Bring Me to Life / Lord of the Rings

I've finally managed to post a music video I edited for kicks one weekend a long time ago. Enjoy!

Film Production Diary

Since we have cancelled our Prie-believing.com website due to lack of use, I'm adding a link to my old "Storytime with Nigel" production diary here so it doesn't get lost or forgotten.

http://madkap.diaryland.com/older.html

Any new updates will be posted here instead. Basically I'm at the point now where only a few scenes remain to be finished, mostly just in-betweening is needed. Awaiting a number of completed scenes back from Steve and his students.

Adventures in Babysitting

So let's see what's going on...work is work, month is March, I'm in my jammies, going to Alberta in a couple weeks, my wife is cute and so is my baby. She is trying to figure out crawling and so far can mostly go backwards and in circles. (That's Ariel I'm talking about. Most of the time Jay can walk just fine.) Tonight I'm pretty sure I saw her take at least two "steps" while crawling.

The other night she got a ride in the laundry basket. Much cuter than a dirty sock.

Planning for Michigan trip in April...will be taking shuttle bus to Seattle and then flying red-eye flight for 4 hours and hopefully sleep through most of it.

Been transferring all of my disposable videotapes to DVD as an on-going project, and trying to copy as many as possible before we go so there's stuff to give away at our garage sale upon returning. It's a great space-saver. Still debating if I should sell most of my home-taped cartoons at the garage sale or see if the internet animation historian community would be more interested. Will have to figure that one out still.

I recently got my copy in the mail of the DVD project I worked on over the summer for Galen. It was really neat to see it all finished and all of our animation colored in. The whole thing turned out great. In the trailer here you can see a brief snippet of my animation, with a kid in a striped shirt holding his breath. We were especially excited to see Ariel mentioned in the end credits as the "Production Baby." My film will have the same credit as well (Hell, at this rate, perhaps there will be two of them!).

And now a word from Ariel: "DADADADADADADADADA"

Apparently she has a thing for modern art.

And cooking with nothing in the pan.

On the floor.