The Mewl

Broken Links

Sorry for the absence.  It's been a crazy, emotional six months.  Let's say year.  The kind where you feel like your angst should drive you but the world has changed enough for you where angst is passe.  Not even something to be nostalgic about.  Nostalgia is for things like the years 1993-1996.  Those were good years.  Good years worth being nostalgic about.

I have a lot of work to do nowadays.  I had to cancel a hosting account so there are going to be a lot of broken links.  No problem.  I just have to change the links or we will just have to live with the limited time things are available to us.  I still have loads of stuff I would like to post, just trying to get the way to digitize them.  I also have loads of stuff to sell and get rid off.  Watch this space.   

My motives in life have changed so much since I first started this little blog.  A place to post fun recorded stuff and creative process is still what I want.  I am happy to write again here. And damned if I am gonna handle a 9-5 job my whole life.  Give me the freelance career I would love, which would still be 9-5, or 7-7 but at least I don't have anyone breathing down my neck making sure I'm not talking to my girlfriend on Gmail.    

For now I leave you with a Leonard Cohen song.

Alleluia from a live show on either June 7 or July 6 1985.

William S. Burroughs and Things I am doing

Hi all!

I am currently working on motion graphics for an upcoming William S. Burroughs documentary.  Working with good people and a good studio.

Read more about the film at this article from the Chicago Reader or at the movies official website.

Also updating my reel since I have learned great tricks in After Effects.  Attempting a HUD type look,  I am writing random computer sounding science fiction gibberish code by hand.  I've looked for random generators of such but not to my specific likings.  So I improvised and found random FORTRAN code out there, plugged it into this gibberish generator, and got some great results.  It takes the code out of the structured line into something more like train of thought spoken technomagic.  Just plug the text into whatever you use to animate text in AE and you got fun wiggle(technobabble).

I will have more to show soon!

Batman And The Outsiders - Circa 1984

Batman And The Outsiders - drawn in 1984 probably.  Copied from the cover to issue 17. Obviously I didn't want Metamorpho to be fighting his own team.  I was and still am such an idealist.  I gave myself a "Decent" and "Far Out!" rating, thus initiating the love and hate I continue to have for my own work. 

Letter To He-Man circa 1984

I am going through the past.  This is real process.  Enjoy.

A letter to He-Man, written by me, illustrated by me, circa 1984.  I don't remember the last time I saw this, but I remember drawing it.

Polygon Cobra Hiss from GI Joe - Maya

Hi All!  I got busy!  I was working on some secret stuff all of May and June which shouldn't have been secret at all.  I kinda took a small break from 3D and did some stuff in Adobe and After Effects.  Did loads of editing in Sony Vegas.  I love to edit.  Learned a lot of new stuff.  Seems like I am learning more now that I am not in school.  Sometimes just getting school done gets in the way of learning.  Anyways, here is what I am working on now:  The Cobra Hiss!!!  One of the most impractical tanks, yet one of my favorite toys.  More after the jump.

Yes I am on Twitter

It's not that I'm behind the times.  I've known about Twitter since it first started.  I just have never had a mobile phone that was worth texting from.  I used to be a cutting edge buyer, but I realized that I'd rather have it cheaper and more stable by waiting a little while longer.  That and it's not worth being cutting edge when cutting edge really isn't doing anything that could be called cutting edge. 

Follow me through the sidebar to the right!

Goofin' with After Effects

    I am a busy bee.  Besides creating and entering work for different job considerations, contests, making delicious food, and going outside,  I am also toning up my reel.  I like to model things I have.  I love objects and have based my models on things that also exist in real life.  It frees me from worrying about my own artistic skill and the insecurities that can bring.  I have the technical skill, but I feel my design and artistic skills, while quite improved over the past couple years, are nascent and just coming into their own.

More after the jump, including video that will give you life of dreams!!!

Flash Banner!

On the left you will see a new banner I made in Flash and Swift3D.  Nothing fancy.  It will now take you to my portfolio site instead of a gnome.  I like Flash, and Actionscript ain't too tough since I have a slight background in C++, but I can't learn it in a weekend.  There are loads of tutorials out there, but right now I need to focus on Maya and creative work rather than learning Flash through and through.  I still have plans to learn more actionscript, but I need to get away from the website building for a second and go back to pure creation and back off of learning for a second. 

One of my favorite Flash tutorials is located at Kongregate.  Just look for their "Shootorials".  It gives a great run down on what it takes to make a flash game, and this in turn gives nice insight into the syntax and language of Actionscript.  I'd rather tell stories than make games, but I guess that is what makes Flash so powerful: it's versatility.

Now, it is time to go back to Maya and super original content.  I filmed a bunch of stopmotion turntables and chroma-keyed them.  They came out nice.  I am going to go make some bread and play with After Effects.

-Mewlio

Simone de Beauvoir: Ada Lovelace Day, The Weekend Edition

Yes, I know that Ada Lovelace day was Tuesday, March 24.  I know what I was going to write about, I just didn't have words in me the past few days.  I had known who I was going to choose a while ago.

Simone de Beauvoir

Technology is defined by Webster: a manner of accomplishing a task especially using technical processes, methods, or knowledge.

I am not going to defend my choice.  Simone de Beauvoir accomplished the task of establishing her thought and mind among the crowd of men, which is no easy task.  She stood with Sartre and Algren as peer and contemporary, not as student or associate

So I apologize for not writing this on the day itself.  I think today, March 28, 2009 is a better day to remember her and acknowledge her reach.  I mean, it is Nelson Algren's 100th birthday today, and I would rather write about her. 

Ada Lovelace Day: The Prologue

The Mewl is taking part of Ada Lovelace Day.

For more info, please visit these awesome interlinks:

Ada Lovelace Day Blog

British Science Museum: Ada Lovelace Day