Roads to Madness

We're currently enjoying a family vacation to Yellowstone by car from Ladner to Spokane to Gardiner, Montana. Here is the wonderful culture along the way.


Let's go!

About to enjoy breakfast at Big Al's Diner in Blaine, WA

Lots of fun cartoon artifacts...




A 'Sitting Ducks' shower curtain works well when you don't have a door.



Apparently a refugee from the Toddle Tale "Grandfather Train", the banned sequel to "Grandfather Clock" which was even more disturbing...(but is that even possible?)

The classic Twin Peaks diner in North Bend, WA!


"A three-quarter view of a father and child sharing a tender moment."

For some reason the diner is now been invaded by an army of Tweeties...

...but still has cherry pie and damn fine coffee!


A disturbing pig.

Aww, happy cakes!

Come hang out and have a ball!

More to come...

Birthday Party Fun

This weekend was Ariel's 2nd Birthday Party with friends and family, and a great time was had by all. Here's a little highlight where the Muppets made a little performance, we had our annual storytime (a new book written and illustrated by me & Jay), and Ariel's birthday cake. My little Puppetoon is growing up!



Here is a link to view our childrens' book for Ariel in online format.

Stay tuned...we hit the road for Yellowstone tomorrow!

Life is short....but God is tall

This is my new life slogan that just popped into my head tonight while sitting quietly in Ariel's room waiting for her to fall asleep. It's been an interesting week, coming down off the adrenalin rush of finishing my course and enjoying some mellow evenings after coming home from work. But at the same time, we're still processing the shock of losing a dear friend from our church to cancer the other night, rather suddenly. Irene was one of the kindest people I've ever met, and it's strange & sad to realize every now and then that I won't be running into her at the store, on the street, or in the congregation anymore. If you're on Facebook, I invite you to visit the group that's been created in her memory. It's a rough road ahead for her family and friends who will miss her.

But amidst this sad turn of events, life does go on. I remember when we went through this same thing with Janet's mom several years ago, I said to Janet, "You know, it's strange, we're in the middle of one of the tragic things we may ever have to deal with in our lives, but at the same time, I've never felt more alive." So indeed there are many exciting things coming up on The Boundaries of Fantasia: friends adopting babies, Ariel's 2nd birthday, a trip to Yellowstone, animation festivals, Disneyland, teaching, and a few other events that shall remain a secret for now! So I say stay tuned and prepare for watching us live life to the fullest.

In other random news, my good friend Mario Pochat has recently started a website for animation in Vancouver, and posted a little interview with me here.

New Demo Reel!

Check out my new demo reel, with clips from the productions I've worked on with BigFott Studios: I'm Dirty!, Do Unto Otters, & The Librarian from the Black Lagoon, plus a little clip from Storytime with Nigel.

Preston Blair Swipe

I recently discovered a Preston Blair swipe drawing on the back of our local Delta, BC phone book. (I wasn't sure at first, but then I found the actual drawing they ripped it off from...not perfect, but close enough.)

New Stop Motion Dialogue!

It's been a long time coming, but here we finally have a brand new compilation of improvised "Creature Comforts-style" dialogue from my last batch of talented part-time students! Great job you guys!

"The YuYu" and other inspirations

I've recently found some time to finally peruse through the animated shorts on AWNtv, and have discovered some gems. This one in particular excites & inspires me a great deal...

http://www.awntv.com/videos/yuyu



I absolutely LOVE this film and how it ties together with the awesome music. Further investigation led me to the animator's website Bitey Castle and more episodes of this unraveling story.

Normally I haven't had much desire to continue working in Flash, outside of my brief experimentation with it, but seeing stuff like this makes me re-consider. Not to mention this little clip, all drawn straight-ahead in Flash (and synced to Monty Python's "Book Shop" sketch):



Both of these animators (Adam Phillips and Rune Bennicke respectively) have worked for Disney. Great stuff!

A Random Post...just because I can.

WHAT DOES THE GIFT OF LIFE HOLD INSIDE???

So I'm finally getting back into the swing of things as I come down off one project and get in touch with life before moving on to the next one. Yes, I finally finished my online Stop Motion Animation 1 course for the Academy of Art! Now the final touches are in my editors' hands and we all await some students possibly for the Fall. I'm already thinking ahead a bit for a "Level 2" course, which I'll also be writing before too long.

Until then, it's all about work, work and more work until our upcoming birthday party for Ariel and family vacation to Yellowstone! But all work and no play makes Ken a dull boy, so...

(image H.Jessup/W.Jenkins)

...one of my part-time students graciously gave me a copy of one of the rarest animation treasures out there, the UnCut version of Twice Upon a Time (with the naughty words intact). Apparently I also have his mom to thank as well, as they had taped it off HBO during of the 12 mysterious airings from the 80s and kept the tape. Pretty good transfer too! I haven't decided if the profanity makes this a better film or not...in most cases it doesn't, but I do chuckle when Scuzzbopper says "a***ole" off-screen.

My brother sent me this and I love it...



...this weekend we got to celebrate the wedding of our fellow VanArts comrades Blake & Nicole, who met at the school years ago through a series of personal connections & circumstances that ultimately led to this momentous day for them. I was so proud to have a little part of that! We had a great time. It's amazing how many lives have changed as a result of that place, and how all of our lives weave and connect together.

Mischevous Me creates a little 'Jack & Sally' drawing for the happy couple.

We got a little goofy leaving creative gifts at the table.

Awwww....

The VanArts American/Canadian Marriage Club claims another Victory!

...and this weekend we got to see SPAMALOT on its final day here in Vancouver. It was AWESOME to finally see it LIVE on a stage; the cast was great and threw in lots of Canadian touches too. Such a fun show!




...and now, HOLY CRAP!!! Coraline Puppets!!!!!!

Ken's iPod Shuffle

In response to my friend Meeka's recent post, I thought I would see what my iTunes Shuffle came up with while plundering away at course-writing this evening, for no other reason than to reveal my musical tastes and prove how either cool or dorky I am.

Step 1: Open your iTunes or other lesser MP3 player.
Step 2: Put all of your music on random.
Step 3: Write down the first 30 songs it plays, no matter how embarrassing

Honey Pie - The Beatles
Standing - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Once More with Feeling
Call Me When You're Sober - Evanescence
Ob-la-Di Ob-la-Da - The Beatles
Where Are You? - Spamalot Soundtrack
What You Own - Rent
Fat Albert Plays Dead - Bill Cosby
Kodachrome/Maybelline - Simon & Garfunkel
I'll See You in My Dreams - Giant
Synchronicity II - The Police
Violin - They Might Be Giants
Laker Girls Cheer - Spamalot Soundtrack
Screaming in Digital - Queensryche
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics
The Intermission - Spamalot Soundtrack
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - Elton John
Wings for Marie Part 1 - Tool
Lucifer Sam - Pink Floyd
Maze - Phish
Making Christmas - Danny Elfman
Is There Anybody Out There? - Pink Floyd
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Spamalot Soundtrack
Mary - Oingo Boingo
When Are You Coming Home? - Makkafroi (my friend Brandon's old band)
The Invention of Basketball - Bill Cosby
Ben's Death - Star Wars Soundtrack
Prophecy - Queensryche
Beside You - Queensryche
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

Whattya got on YER pod?

WALL*E Little Golden Book

I picked up the WALL*E Little Golden Book at London Drugs today, and as with the other recent film adaptations, really enjoy the illustrations. This page in particular made me laugh, due to the random cameo appearance by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Kinex Images and more...

As I've been working on a puppet-building module for my course, it's caused me to collect some screen-grabs for the history of stop-motion puppets.

This is one frame of the Kinex Short Crossing the Alps, where the animator’s arm was accidentally captured on film! Who is this mystery person? Perhaps it could be Orville Goldner, who worked at the studio and years later worked on King Kong. The world may never know for sure, as there is little known documentation on the mysterious Kinex Films.



I've uploaded a bunch more stop-motion history stills here.

Walking on Water

WALL*E

Click here for my latest Hollywood Jesus review for WALL*E.

Happy 7 Years!

Today marks 7 wonderful years being married to my best friend and creative companion Janet (Jay)! I'm so proud of everything we've accomplished together, especially the birth of Ariel and the love and friendships with others that we have nurtured and welcomed into our marriage. I'm so grateful that God brought us together.

To celebrate the occasion, we present the online debut of the little "music video" that I secretly edited together as part of my marriage proposal to her, partially updated and re-mastered from the original version. I woke her up from her sleep by sticking a post-it note on her head telling her to follow a trail of candles to the TV where this video was ready to play...and the Jack & Sally serenade at the end was literally my little song to her.



Happy Anniversary Sweetie! I sure love you!

Ariel Loves Otters

Ariel has taken a real liking to the animated film I worked on with BigFott Studios, Do Unto Otters, to the point where she's been repeating the word "otters" (both to us and to herself) all night long. This is just too precious for words.

Random Weekend Post

Today is Sunday. After church and the Ladner market, I slept all afternoon. Now I'm awake and full of ribs, cake and coffee. This shall be a random post of stuff I've been experiencing and discovering.

First, some pictures of Ariel I'm particularly proud of, as she is obsessed with the Muppets, loves Kermit and calls Rowlf, Piggy and Fozzie by name.





A few days ago I had a random memory flash of some childrens' books I remember from my younger days, which are now on my radar for seeking in used book stores or if I find a good deal online someplace. There was a Little Golden Book at my grandparents' house from the 50s called A Dragon in a Wagon which had some great modern illustrations in it...some of them posted here.


and a book which I had a love/hate relationship with, The Man Who Lost His Head.

I loved the story and thought a couple of the illustrations were funny. So much so, my dad decided to blow them up and hang them on my bedroom wall. Then I got scared of them and we had to cover them up.



And finally, Jay showed me this hilarious site today: garfieldminusgarfield.net

...and this. All I can say is BRILLIANT! (Be sure to watch all the way to the end)

Humphrey the Bear

While capturing clips for my course I captured & posted this clip just for kicks, and sent it to my dad for father's day. It's a little sequence of animation of Disney's Humphrey the Bear which always made me & my family and friends laugh in younger days. I still think it's one of the funniest animation bits ever.

Daddy's Day

So Jay lovingly woke me up this morning with waffles & coffee, and a surprise utterance by Ariel who learned how to say "Happy Daddy's Day," and also put this video together for me. I am very touched and proud to be Daddy today!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com