DakotaKid's World

...in the home stretch!!!

2010-01-14T23:42:00.001-06:00

After a much MUCH needed Christmas break, I have started back into Animation Mentor and my final class. That's right..it's almost been 18 months since I started this amazing school and FANTASTIC journey!

This term is all about Short Film PRODUCTION, baby! That means taking all the planning I did last term and now creating some excellent animation with it. I've got some pretty big tech issues to deal with, as well as just basic work on performing and showing I am furthering my skills. And if I can end up with a great lil' short, even better!

My mentor this term is GREG WHITTAKER. Greg has been an animator at Dreamworks since the start of the animation company, I believe. He just happened to finish on "How to Train Your Dragon" this last week. His last day just happened to be the day of our first Q&A. I believe he'll be moving onto Kung Fu Panda 2 next.

This short film is a monster..and I got a ton of work to get done on it. But with Greg's and my Animation Mentor classmate's help, I think I can get this worked out. Keep an eye out for further posts about it, or check out my other blog for weekly updates.

until laterz!

a NEW Disney Princess makes her debut...

2009-12-11T00:23:00.010-06:00

Being out here in LA has some great perks. Some people say the weather and warm temps is one of those things. Not so for me. Granted, I am LOVING the colder weather the "WINTER" brings to so cal, but it's just not winter without a CHANCE of snow. No, one of the perks for me is being so close to where Disney created his masterpieces. Last week, I got to go see a preview screening of Disney's return to the traditional hand-drawn animated feature with "the Princess and the Frog".

My buddy, Casey, and I bought tickets for the special event back in late October. This event was only the second time the Walt Disney studio was being open to the public for a movie screening. The last time was when Fantasia opened for the first time.

Casey is one of the first animator friends of mine out here in LA who is as big of a Disney fan as I am. We got to the studio and parked and then followed the "frog print crowns" to the magic.

We followed the tracks to a warehouse type area where we checked in and bought concessions.

We then walked across the studio lot to where the theater was at. Near the theater entrance, Mickey Mouse was on hand for anyone to take photos with. After handing over or cameras, we went into the theater and found our seats. We had paid a little extra to get reserved seats (not fully by choice since all the general admission ones were sold out, but at least we got a cool lithograph and Mardi Gras beads for that extra cash!).

The pretty packed theater was filled with children in boaster seats (which I overheard someone say Disney had run out of because the showing we were at had more children then adults). At first, I was thinking the row of school kids behind us were gonna be distractions, but as soon as the Disney logo came on and Aniki Noni Rose began singing the first song from this musical film, they were glued to the entertainment, as well as their seats.

I am not going to go through the whole film, because honestly, you just need to see it for yourself, but I will say this. This film was inspiring for my animation buddy and I. We both wanted to leave the film and get home to animate something. Both of us have dreams of animating on a Disney feature film and this film is just the type of film I want to be attached too. It was brilliantly drawn and animated. The music was MUCH better then I thought it was going to be, honestly. I connected with multiple characters, more then I thought I would. Yes, there might be a few things that I didn't feel were perfect, but after years of not knowing if I'd ever see a 2D animated film from "THE 2D" studio..this was a sign of a new revival.

After the film, we followed the frog footprints to the sound stage where I believe 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was filmed to meet the Disney Princesses.

While Casey and I just kinda walked through the activities, I did snap some photos of the royalty. There was also some other movie memorabilia

in part of the room, along with an area where an animator from the film was giving lessons on how to become an animator.

After we picked up our lithographs, we headed back to the car and left the event.

The film opens up today nationwide. I'm not worried it won't do well, but I really hope it just blows the competition outta the water. "New Moon" step aside..Princess Tiana wants some time in the bijou moonlight!

One year...

2009-07-01T11:15:00.000-05:00

A year ago today, my sister, niece and I arrived in Los Angeles. After a three day drive from our parents home in South Dakota, I finally had arrived in LaLa Land. I had no job or place to live and no friends. By the end of the day, I'd found a place to sublet (which turned into actually becoming a permanent place to live). By the end of the month, I'd found a coaching job. This last year has had so much happen in it. I've given my animation career/passion a huge jump with Animation Mentor. I've continued to coach competitive team at a great gym in Pasadena. I've been blessed with some NEW (and some OLD) friends that have come into my life. It's also been amazing that I've been in the same ol' Blue House since that first week I drove into town. There have been a few roommate changes through the last year, but they are all still a great group of guys! Am I as happy about the actual area I live in or the house's upkeep? that's another story. I can't wait to be able to afford an apartment or house that's in a better area of SoCal. But for now...I'm enjoying the cooler summer LA is having and stoked about life!

Thanks for all those that have followed my journey to this point. I hope you will continue to follow!!

Until laterz!

HALFWAY THROUGH, BABY!!!

2009-06-19T01:26:00.003-05:00

It's been an amazing past 9 months, and I'm now OFFICIALLY halfway through this Animation Mentor program. I want to take this time to send a HUGE THANK YOU to my mentor, Marek Kochout, and wish him good luck on finishing up his work on Shrek 4! Can't wait to see the film and search for his name in the credits! I'd also like to thank all of my classmates, both in Marek's class and throughout Animation Mentor! You all have helped soo much in my progress and are a huge part of encouraging and INSPIRING me from week to week! Here's to another 9 months of amazing animation from you all!

Now...bring on Class 4, baby!!

Life update - April 2009

2009-04-27T02:02:00.001-05:00

Just for those loyal viewers that are still around..I'm still alive. Still in Los Angeles. Still working as a gymnastics coach...and currently almost halfway through my Class 3 (Intro to Acting) at Animation Mentor! The time has flown by, but it's been amazing. Even with all the ups and downs of life, I know this is where I'm to be and this is the career for me.

Because of the massive amount of time that AM pulls from me, I haven't been able to post on the smaller moments in life. But I will continue to try to post from time to time. For sure, check out my other blog for my Animation Mentor updates!

until laterz!

the Bonnie Hunt Show

2009-01-23T13:40:00.001-06:00

For years, my sister, Heather, and I have been big fans of Bonnie Hunt. If you don't know who Bonnie is, she's been in several films, including Cheaper By The Dozen, The Green Mile, Beethoven, Jumanji, Jerry Maguire, as well as voicing characters in Cars, Monster's Inc. and A Bug's Life. She also was the star of a sitcom called "The Bonnie Hunt Show". This is when Heather and I became huge fans. Well, that and because we shared the same last name!

So this past September, Bonnie Hunt began hosting her own daytime talk show. Funny enough, this was the setting of her previous sitcom as Bonnie played a morning talk show host. Heather and I both became fans of this new talk show and began talking about the fact it was taped here in the LA area and how we should go to a taping. When Jeff and Heather made it back to California after the holidays, we wrote in to ask for tickets. a week or so before the taping, we got confirmation we had tickets. We were stoked for this, since it was to be both her and my first TV show taping. We had wanted to go to the Rosie Show back when it was on, but never made it to NYC to do so.

So yesterday, the day of the taping, I drive down and pick up Heather and Jeff and we drive to "the city of Culver City" and park in walking distance to the Sony Culver Studio. We picked up a friend of mine, Tyffani, and we grabbed some coffee (or non coffee drink for me) and then headed to get in line. We weren't allowed to have cell phones or cameras, so we couldn't get any of this documented. We didn't even know how long it was we waited outside the studio. But after they gave us our number and we went through the security check, we were seated in a waiting area. After a little more time there, we got into our numerical order and were filed into the studio.

Now this was a first for me, and it was so cool to see the sets that I'd seen so often on the TV. We were given ballpark style hotdogs (some of which had ketchup, some had mustard and Tyff's was plan!) and a Dad's Root Beer. We then were shown to our seats and sat down for what was to be a fun taping. The warm up guy did his job and told us ours. He was funny and entertained us for a little. The band played for a little, and then it was time for show time. The crew started coming out and we started recognizing the writers (Holly, best friend of Bonnie's, and then Jimmie Kimmel's brother) and Don, the producer and some of the other crew. We didn't know for sure who was the guest(s) until the title segment came playing across the screens. It was Brendan Fraser, along with a dog segment and one of the actress' from "Brothers and Sisters". After a TON, and I mean...A TON of clapping, we laughed and had a fantastic time at the show. Bonnie showed some real emotion after the dog segment, cuase of how many dogs are at the shelters and such. She commented she would take all of them if she had a large ranch for them! At the end of the taping, they did some tag line and promos, and then Bonnie comes into the audience and shakes hands and talked with us for a little bit. It was so nice to see her take the time to do that. And she was so gracious with everyone that asked her questions or made comments.

All in all, it was a great time with Bonnie! I would love to get a chance to meet Bonnie in person sometime. Maybe we'll bump into each other one day! It's LA...never know!

Until laterz!

Murphy's Law of Computers

2009-01-19T22:03:00.000-06:00

So...some of you may know my luck with computers. I've been an avid Apple fan since my freshman year of college at Nebraska. More recently, I've had issue with logic boards and my laptops.

The first time was in 2006 at about the end of my Apple Care warranty for my Powerbook G4, and my logic board fried. I got it replaced....went to Taiwan for the wedding of my good bro, Campbell and my same computer desides to have issue with teh graphics card and thus needed to replace my logic board, because in the BRILLIANT advancement of technology, laptops have EVERYTHING attached to the logic board cause you to have to replace said board if you need to replace anything...even if the logic board itself is perfectly fine. The kicker of this is that I was less then six months PAST the end of this computers Apple Care. Which means it would be almost as much as a new computer to get a new board..and I decided on a new computer.

I get a wonderful new MacBook Pro as a replacement and life was good again. I move out to LA here this past July, start my first Class of Animation Mentor and it was all still good. I go home to SD for the holidays...all good. I come back and start my second class of AM and still all good. Second week of Class, Tuesday...wake up and my computer won't work...ARGH!!! Long story short..I take it into the Apple Store and the Genius' there tell me is the...wait for it...you got it...the LOGIC board!! :) WHOO HOO!! When I pulled myself up off the floor, I told them to go ahead and fix it (luckily with the help of Apple Care. Have I mentioned how much I HIGHLY suggest spending the extra on Apple Care?!!!!). I was told it'd be 7-10 days. I was like, "Great..wonderful! How am I going to do my homework and freelance work??" I leave the store...sure it's gonna be longer then 10 days per my normal luck with getting computers fixed. I spend the next two days trying to figure out how I can still stay on schedule with school and NOT drop a grade for this week. I worked out something with my mentor, Rebecca Perez...(AWESOME mentor!!) and talk to the school about my situation. A great buddy of mine that also is in the same Class as I am at AM offered me his extra computer, which I am so THANKFUL to Jeffrey for his generosity. But after much searching online via my roommate's computer, I decided to purchase a second computer, a Mac Pro. I'd been wanting to have a second, more powerful computer for a while, and now was as good a time to take the plunge.

Friday, I walk into the Apple Store and walk out with a new computer and an excited hop in my step. I get the computer set up and barely had time to wipe the goofy grin of excitement off my face, when I get a call from the Apple Store that my laptop was done. I think "Of COURSE it is!!"

All in all, happy I got my new computer and super happy I got my Week 2 homework done and handed in. But God has really provided and is keeping me above water, with or without Murphy's Law!!

Until laterz!

BOLT!!!

2008-12-01T10:37:00.003-06:00

I finally got to see Bolt last night. Disney's latest addition to it's animated film history, Bolt is a fantastic comedy/buddy/ animal/action film. We went to see the 3D version of it, which is always an added joy. The newer 3D technology is soo much easier to watch then the red/blue lens glasses. Although, I did notice that the current glasses are tinted darker, so the film is a little less bright then it normally would be. But enough about the technology. The animation and plot were brilliant. One of the sidekicks has become one of my new favorite characters, Rhino the hamster. I loved the pigeons that run through out the whole film. I think this is because of school, I'm watching the actual animation so much closer these days. This always happens when I am in animation school..screws with my viewing pleasure! But all I could see were poses...poses...poses!! ha!

I'd highly recommend this film to young and old! My friends and I, were rolling in the isles through much of the film. And once again, I watched the "animator's" credit list and found where my name will fit right in. ONE DAY in the NEAR FUTURE!!!

Until laterz!

AM Week 6: Halfway done with Class 1!!!

2008-11-08T12:09:00.001-06:00

Hey all! I realize that I haven't been posting as much as I'd like..but that's a good thing, kinda. It means I'm busy working on my passion and learning a ton! Week 5 was a tough one for me. Partly because of my assignment...partly because I was sick..and partly just cause! I got through that week..handed in my assignment and even go good feedback from Victor. Week 6 was a bit better. I actually got a good start early on in the week. And I'm even done with my assignment EARLY! It's not due till tomorrow, Sunday, at noon. I could tweak it more, I'm sure, but I think I'm good for now and don't want to mess it up..so I'll wait till Victor gets some feedback to me.

Halfway done with Class 1 and I've learned a ton..even if most of the stuff is refresher for me, it's a much NEEDED refresher.

Keep checking back..I WILL continue to update as much as I can!

check out my other blog for more up to date posts on my Animation Mentor journey!!

Until laterz!

AM Week 2: 1st E-Critique

2008-10-13T01:42:00.008-05:00

Tonight I got home from Mosaic to find my mentor at Animation Mentor, Victor Navone, had finished my first e-critique for my STU pose. I was super excited...and super freaked out. I felt like I had put so much into this first week's homework, I really wanted good feedback (and a good grade to follow). He started with looking at my sketchbook page, saying he liked the variety of the poses and even said I was pretty "on model" with the STU character. He commented on my choice of pose and then went to look at my CG pose image. He said at the start that it wasn't the story he was thinking of, but that wasn't a problem. He also mentioned having changed the camera angle, but understood that could have been on account of STU's gianormous head. Then, Victor proceeded to draw some tweaks on top of my image to strengthen the pose.

I'll go back in and take his suggestions and make the pose even stronger. But for the first of many e-critiques, it all went along well. I also got a great grade on this one! :) You can see my post that goes into more detail about this weeks assignment here!

Next week...EXCITEMENT and the bouncing ball!!!

Until laterz!

Terra Nova 2008 (part 3)

2008-10-11T10:00:00.005-05:00

This continues where my last posts left off, so if you are just joining us...check out Terra Nova 2008 (part 1) or Terra Nova 2008 (part 2)!

Okay...well, I know this is a little late in coming, but life happens. I wanted to make sure I got some more photos of my weekend posted so you guys can see all that happened. Now, it's been a month and a half since this weekend, so some details might get overlooked..but at least there are pictures!

Here are the MC's of the weekend; introducing the creative festival that is about to start!

One of the attendees at Terra Nova was a crotchity old puppet, who then had a change of personality after the weekend and was assisting in introducing the acts. Performances that ranged from vocal and instrumental...

Here a friend of mine, Jolene is belting out a song she and the guy playing guitar wrote over the weekend.

Mariah McManus shares her song with the group.

There were also short dramas, written and performed by the acting groups.

One of MY favorite parts was watching the dance teams from the three main Mosaic locations. I got a chance to get to know a few of these people. Many of them are young, but I loved the energy and creativity that they have in their craft!

The improvers showed what they had learned in a short improve sketch.

....and another one of the performances that left an impression on me were the spoken word performers. It was so powerful and amazing how these guys can really move you with there words. AMAZING! And I was drawn to the one guys leg that was tatooed. All I could think of was how the part on his shin HAD to hurt! OUCH!

As well as the performances, there was an "art gallery" from the fine art people. Some impressive stuff there too. After the performances all wrapped up, it was time for good bye. It was a great end for a FANTASTIC weekend. We still haven't gotten the short film we worked on finished yet, but I'm excited to see the finished product and will for sure let you know if I can get it uploaded for you guys to see. We loaded up the SUV and started the drive back to LA, stopping off for Rootbeer and food at A&W Rootbeer. These are the really good times and memories that I love to make. It was a great time to meet people and get to know old friends better. I have already booked my place for 2009 Terra Nova and can't wait to get back!

Until laterz!

What's going on outside my window??

2008-10-08T03:02:00.005-05:00

Back in September, I was getting ready to go to bed after a late night of work in the early morning of Sept. 18th. I was starting to fall asleep and I saw the light of the Police helicopters coming in and out of my room. This is not uncommon, but it seemed like they were really focusing on something around my area. I don't think a ton of it, laughing it off. Then I see some flashing red lights through the curtains. I jump to the window to see what's going on. Outside of my window in the parking lot to the south of our house, I see a guy trying to stop the bleeding of another guy laying on the ground. A third guy is hysterically yelling at the guy on the ground.

At about that time, police cars, an ambulance and fire trucks arrive and someone else takes over for the guy that was attending to the injured guy. I grabbed my camera to document this. Keep in mind, I'm a kid from South Dakota. This kinda thing doesn't happen very often to me. My nephew told me I was becoming a budding "Peter Parker".

Soon the ambulance takes the victim away and the cops begin to get to work. It was CSI:LA right outside my house. Crime tape began going up and the victims friends were being questioned. I was the only one of the house awake (it was like 3am in the morning!!) and so I went downstairs to the porch and tried to figure out what had happened.

A group of USC students that live next door came under the police tape and talked with me on the porch. I found out the guy had been stabbed after a scuffle. We didn't have details that night, but the next day the news had more info. I felt weird "documenting" the incident, but I couldn't not do it.

Unfortunately the victim, a USC Cinema Arts grad student named Bryan Richard Frost, did not survive the the stabbing. As far as I know, they haven't found the attacker. But from what the news said, the incident was a rare thing for the area of the city. The guys in the house said they haven't ever had anything like that happen in this area before. So far...nothing more then late night parties and the occasional Indian (from India) dance party. All in all..one just stays in late at night in this area!!

Until laterz!

Animation Mentor BEGINS!!!

2008-10-01T21:50:00.000-05:00

Monday, at 12:00 PST, I logged onto the Animation Mentor online campus for the first time as a new student in Class 1. I was biting at the bit, waiting for that clock to hit noon. Then when the site finally let me in, I was a kid in a candy shop! I had been to orientation and knew a little about the campus, but there were soo much more available to me now. I started checking out other students profiles and found my class, along with my Class 1 mentor....drum roll please....the one...the only...Pixar's own "Alien Song" creator....VICTOR NAVONE!!! (insert crowd roar here)

As I go through this journey, I'm planning on keeping all you loyal readers up to date as much as I can, both here on this blog and my other blog (dakotakidcorral.blogspot.com).

Well..I need to get going on homework!

Until laterz!

The Drawing Club x2

2008-09-17T13:02:00.001-05:00

I've posted some sketches from last week's Drawing Club over on "The DakotaKid Corral". Check the post out here.

Until laterz!

School Daze!!

2008-09-10T10:18:00.004-05:00

What a great day! I came home from a night of coaching up in Pasadena. To say the least, tonight's classes went WAY better then last night's, but that's another post. I come home and jump on my lovely Apple to check my email because I was waiting for a response from a friend about a project we talked about earlier, yet again, another post. As I'm reading and deleting emails, I come upon one from my future alma mater, Animation Mentor (an yes..I probably misspelled alma mater!! It's a school for animators, not future spelling bee contestants!).

I was super stoked! I quickly opened up the email and find it is time to have student orientation!! WHOO HOO! I finally get to "go onto" the Animation Mentor campus, even if it's just a small part of what is a huge virtual campus. Once my first quarter starts at the end of this month I'll have access to so much more. I at once, well, okay not at once. I actually finished up checking the other mail for junk mail and any time sensitive stuff and THEN clicked the link that would take me to my new place of higher education. Over the last few weeks, I'd been constantly checking out the AM website hoping there would be something to tide me over until Sept. 29th, the first day of the rest of my life!! With this I can now feel that much closer! I have just begun viewing the orientation videos that show the lay of the campus and how things work and everything. I will be trying to soak in all I can now, so I can jump directly into creating the foundation of my Animation Mentor schooling! Soon, I'll be posting more about the actual classes and like so many others in the past, trying to keep weekly updates going. Unfortunatly, around Class 3 or 4 those posts drop off in part to the numbers of hours students have to spend on the actual work. But I'm hoping to at least give quick updates through my whole schooling..but time will tell!

Until laterz!

Terra Nova 2008 (part 2)

2008-09-05T02:18:00.001-05:00

This continues where my last post left off, so if you are just joining us...check out Terra Nova 2008 (part 1)!

Besides our area of discipline groups, we had sessions of worship and talks, free time of water games and sports, pretty decent food and just enjoying God's great creation.

I finally saw and felt rain again! I was in heaven (even though it was during one of our "exploring the arts" times). I saw stars..which I didn't really realize I'd been missing! It was wonderful to just see another part of California that reminds me more of back home.

I mentioned the "exploring the arts" times. These were two sessions of trying areas of art that we might not have ever tried or experienced. I chose Stunts for my first session.

We learned more of what stunt men do and how that area of films were created. We also got to flip around..which is why I wanted to do it!! It was fun being someone that had no fear of jumping off a mini trampoline and flipping. The only issue was I had to change from going for perfection to not being as clean when I did the flips. Not as easy as it seems.

The second session I took was HIP-HOP Dance!!! This was my first dance class EVER (besides the dance lesson on the "Honey" DVD I tried out with Angie). I was anxious about trying this out, even though I've always wanted to let out my inner hip-hopper! A buddy of mine was in the session with me and that helped a ton. What I realized was that we all were trying something new and even though I was sweating up a storm, I had a blast...and it just makes me want to go clubbin'! ha! I even got picked out to do the routine with a few other people at the end of the session. This was both exciting and totally freaky...but can I just say I nailed those steps, boyeee!

I mentioned before about this cool water "toy" we called "the Blob". It's this huge floating inflated blue and yellow thing. You swim out to the dock and climb up a high dive platform of sorts. Then one person jumps down and crawls to the far end of the floating pillow. The second person (preferably a larger person) jumps straight down from the platform and onto the close end of the Blob. This action will cause a reaction of launching the small, stick of a person on the far end up into the air and then, hopefully after some amazing acrobatic tricks, they plunge into the water. A few of the friends that drove out with me enjoyed this activity, especially Josh who is a large boy. Everyone was requesting him to "blob them", which he happily did.

Here's another person getting launched. One person went straight up, did like two back flips and then landed back on the blob before bouncing into the water. It was SAHWEEEET!!!

After the full morning and afternoon of Saturday, we all met at the beach for a lakeside bonfire. I just loved this photo. One of the people leading in the worship music was sitting in front of the flames. Incidentally, she's a really talented songwriter and is the daughter of Mosaic's main pastor.

After the bonfire, we had s'mores and then headed back to the meeting hall to enjoy a musical Improv by Rebecca and David. It was based on the love story of two people in the audience. These guys are truly talented improvers and actors. I really wish it'd been recorded just to listen to the songs they came up with. HALARIOUS!!!

Rebecca gets some details from a couple in the audience about how they met. All I can say is the couple had one heck of a story behind there relationship/marriage! A story David and Rebecca used to the fullest.

After the Improv show, a few things went on. Of course, I totally forgot to take photos of this part of the fun. The main thing was the mass group game of "Mafia". It's a wonderful game of lying and sleuthing. This game was the reason I didn't get to bed until about 1:30am-ish on Friday night. Saturday night wasn't any better...more like 3am. But most of you that know me know that I'm a night owl who enjoys group games. So I was in heaven! And it's a great game to see people's true colors! During the games of Mafia, there was also a rave/dance party going on in one of the rooms. Some of you might remember me talking about the DJ that spins during the offering down at the Mayan. Well, he was spinning for the dancing fools at the rave Saturday night. It looked like they had a great time and a few people including a friend of mine, Chad, came outta the place with the sweat to prove it! Some people hit the sack early, but most of us hard core night owls stayed up till even for us it was late. Although, there were still a few people that were raring to start another game of Mafia.

Well, that completes the Saturday happenings. I'll continue with the third and final part of my Terra Nova adventure (the results of the weekend's creative explotion) in the near future.

Until laterz!

Terra Nova 2008 (part 1)

2008-09-04T13:31:00.038-05:00

Since I moved out to California, I've been going to church at Mosaic here in LA. Mosaic has a heart for the artists and creative people. They have a few sites around LA which has different service times throughout day on Sundays. The site I usually attend is downtown at the Mayan night club. Every Labor Day, Mosaic has a retreat for artists called Terra Nova.

The cost of the weekend was part of why I almost didn't go. But after several people told me how I should attend, I felt like this was worth the cost. I've had a hard time really finding connection here in LA and at Mosaic. It's a big city and pretty big church. I felt this weekend could help me meet a ton of new people...creative people...artistic people!

Here are some photos of the camp. There was a huge man-made lake that had some fun activities, including a huge water slide and a thing called the "Blob". And there were plenty of volleyball courts and a huge field that one could find people playing Ultimate Frisbee on. There was also a rock wall and a zip line, but I never saw them. But I'm told they were a blast, too!

Here's a view of the cabin I was in. I wasn't there much, and actually didn't really meet most of my roommates until Saturday morning, since I crept in late on Friday night. Notice the car parked really close to the cabin. Parking was kinda funny and people tried to make anything work in the way of parking places.

This was the chapel at the camp. I actually never got into it, since none of my meetings were held here, but I just thought this was a gorgeous photo to take.

The whole weekend was centered around the artist and the art. We were split into areas of interest (ie: dance, music, spoken word, film, drama, etc.) and then within each discipline we were split into Mosaic sites. This was so that you could work with the people that attend the same location as you do. I joined the film group, but we didn't split into locations, we split into what we wanted to do (either, production, writing, or directing). I joined the production group and we decided to split again into two groups to work on two short films. My group (which was lead by one of my current roommates, Kevin) brainstormed and came up with a short narrative. In the end, we created, wrote, cast, and shot the short in 24 hours. Here's our director (and my roommate, Kevin) in action!

It was amazing to go through this process. I loved shooting the film and our actors were amazing! Our story called for us to ducktape the lead in a cocoon of sorts.

CJ, our lead actor, waiting to be driving to the next shooting location. He was really unable to move very much or do anything for himself...which was a big part of the story.

CJ rests while we are prepping the final scene.

Our other main actor gets her makeup done for the final scene.

After getting put into the duct tape straight jacket at about 3:00pm, CJ finally is cut free from his "bondage" at about 7:00pm. He was pure sweat and heat. At one point we cut open a hole for his hands to come free and so he could sit at the table. As I was cutting the hole, a sauna came rushing out from the cocoon. CJ said he would never forget our faces as this happened. We were amazed and directly started warming our hands in the heat. I'm still amazed how much of a trooper CJ was through all this. I just hope the film comes out as good as we all pictured it in the creation time!

CJ is finally free!!

I'd try to explain the short, but it'll just be easier to see it for yourself when we get it edited together. That'll be later.

Here's the short film team and cast after the final shot was in the can! What an amazing feeling it was. I have to admit, when we were planning this piece of art, I wasn't sure it would get done. But we were done with plenty of time for the rest of the evening's activities and fun!

That's it for part one...more of my Terra Nova adventure to come in part two!!!

Until laterz!

The Drawing Club - Aug. 28th

2008-09-04T13:28:00.001-05:00

I've posted some sketches from last week's Drawing Club over on "The DakotaKid Corral". Check the post out here.

Until laterz!

The Drawing Club - Aug. 21st

2008-08-22T01:00:00.003-05:00

I've posted some sketches from tonight's Drawing Club over on "The DakotaKid Corral". Check the post out here.

Until laterz!

The Drawing Club - Aug. 14th

2008-08-18T07:35:00.001-05:00

I've posted some sketches from tonight's Drawing Club over on "The DakotaKid Corral". Check the post out here.

Until laterz!

The Drawing Club - Aug. 7th

2008-08-07T23:57:00.001-05:00

I've posted some sketches from tonight's Drawing Club over on "The DakotaKid Corral". Check the post out here.

Until laterz!

New Gym and the Olympics

2008-08-06T23:35:00.000-05:00

Today was my first day coaching since I moved to LA. I started my new coaching job at Club Champion Gymnastics in Pasadena. This month is only a few hours of floating and getting to know the gym and the kids. I worked with one of the team coaches who happens to be from the Ukraine, with the strong Russian accent you would think a man of that country would have. But it was great getting into the gym again. And the kids that were at practice today seem like a good bunch. So far they don't come close to cool girls that are still back in Sioux Falls, but that bar has been set really high! It's amazing how you can find kids in different gyms halfway across the country from each other, who have the identical personalities! I'm excited about getting more and more into the gym. In September, I'll be getting more of a set class schedule, but for now, it's floating with team some days and rec classes others.

After the weekly Wednesday Night Ultimate Frisbee match, sore and tired (and vastly out of shape!!), I have returned home to catch some of the Women's Gymnastics podium practice. I missed the men's by just a little bit last night, but raced home to catch some of tonight's action on NBC.com. It's kinda fun seeing the future Gold Metal team practicing (I'm prophesying here people!!). I think I missed vault (bummed to miss Alicia S.), but saw bars and now they are onto beam. Bars looked good. Here's to a good beam practice.

I wanted to get a post about my first day at a job here in LA...and hope to have some more to post for sure next week with the Olympics and SIGGRAPH 2008 going on....

Until laterz!

The Drawing Club - July 31

2008-08-01T00:29:00.001-05:00

I've posted some sketches from tonight's Drawing Club over on "The DakotaKid Corral". Check the post out here.

Until laterz!

Princess and the Frog Teaser

2008-07-31T17:15:00.002-05:00

Okay..I know this is something I haven't worked on (at least not yet..always hope!!), but because I have goals of animating on Disney 2D films in the near future, I want this to be huge! Disney has posted the first teaser for it's jump back into traditional animated features, "The Princess and the Frog". Run, don't walk, to view this teaser. It's just a glimpse of the goodness to come! Plus..the more people know about this film the more they will go and see it and prove to the suits at Disney that it's not the format that makes a film a hit, it's a well told story that gets people's butts in the theaters!

Check it out here!

Until laterz!

Whole lotta shaking going on!

2008-07-29T23:05:00.000-05:00

By now most of you have heard of the 5.4 earthquake that shook the southern California area. I was driving down I-5 and the 110 freeway when the biggest quake since 1994's big one. I'd love to be able to tell some huge story about cars all over the road and huge cracks and power lines down and flames from the pits of hell blazing...but to be honest, I didn't even realize anything was going on. If it wasn't for the radio saying something about Chino Hills and my housemates saying they felt it big time and all the media coverage, I wouldn't really have known anything had happened. I'm kinda bummed cause I wanted to compare to the earthquakes I experienced in Taiwan. Oh well..another time! :)

Until laterz!

The Drawing Club - July 24

2008-07-25T21:00:00.002-05:00

I've posted some sketches from this past Thursday night Drawing Club over on "The DakotaKid Corral". Check the post out here .

Until laterz!

Going Back to school

2008-07-22T18:20:00.000-05:00

I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED!!!! WHOO HOO!

For those of you that haven't heard, I've decided to further my character animation skills (and ultimately up my job options!!). I recently applied to the Animation Mentor program. I am scheduled to start the Fall '08 term at the end of September. This is an online course that has been gaining more and more recognition and respect in the animation industry. It's an 18 month course that consists of six 12-week sessions. And the BEST part of this program is that each quarter you have a different mentor training you. These mentors are actively working in the industry and truly WANT to further the students passion and career. So, over the next two years, I'll post updates on the classes and the good and the bad (but hopefully more good!). Keep checking back.

Until laterz!

Beach Party

2008-07-20T18:08:00.000-05:00

After being in the LA for about two weeks, I finally made it to the REAL reason people move here...THE BEACH! Now, many of you know that I'm not usually a "Let's go to a day at the beach"-kinda guy, especially in this land of perfect bodies (both real and fake). But the Blue House small group went to the beach last week and I went along. We went in the evening and grilled burgers. It was a beautiful area and reminded me that I do LOVE God's creation!! And it wasn't that far, really. I'm gonna have to get out there more often. Even just to chill out and sit. Along with the burgers, we made a HUGE fire, which one of the guys with us kept adding bundle after bundle of wood onto. This created quite the blaze. We hung out and listened to the jam session of guitar and djembe (an african drum). Also met some new people, one that is from south west Minnesota! So awesome to find people that KNOW where I'm from. All in all, it was a great time! Check out the photos.

The Drawing Club

2008-07-18T18:21:00.001-05:00

I've posted some sketches from this past Thursday night Drawing Club over on "The DakotaKid Corral". Check the post out HERE .

Until laterz!

The Dark Knight RETURNS!!!

2008-07-18T18:20:00.000-05:00

It wasn't the opening midnight showing that I normally go too, but it was a first for me. I got up earlier then I have since I've been in LA (5:30AM!!) and drove up to Hollywood, to the CINEDOME!!! The plan was too meet some friends for Waffles at 6am, but the others had a late shoot for work the night before and were really tired. So, I went and got McDonald's and they met up with me just before the show. We had gotten our tickets early and in the Cinedome they assign the seats, so we had our center row FANTASTIC seats already. This theater has been an institution in Hollywood for some time, I guess. Let's just say it was amazing! The sound was sick, making you feel every bass thump and explosion. The screen is huge and projected on the curved wall of the theater. It's not as massive as IMAX, but close!

Now about the film....and let's just say this now. GIVE LEDGER THE OSCAR NOW!! Heath Ledger's Joker is the best version I've seen. It matches the best written/drawn Joker in the comics. It is almost painful to think of what more amazing work this talent would have done if not dying. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christian Bale's Batman once again...but it truly is Ledger's the Joker that lifts up everyone else's! Chris Nolan just has tapped into this gritty version of the Batman lore once again! I was heartbroken again by my girl, Katie Holmes, when she wasn't allowed to reprise her role by her wacked out husband. But I relly enjoy Maggie G. and was a good replacement for Rachel Dawes. I won't go into too much detail of the plot since I'm sure there are some that at this time still haven't seen the best movie of the year so far! I just hope more DC comic movies can get to this level! Marvel has been doing pretty good with it's latest ventures.

Until laterz...same BAT channel...same BAT time!

Cops and Robbers

2008-07-14T19:00:00.000-05:00

I understand I'm living in LA..pretty much downtown LA. I realize I'm not living in the IDEAL place for a white boy from the Midwest. But really, the area I live in is not too bad all things considered. I live north of the USC campus...only a few blocks from that schools "Frat Row" (at least that's what we called it at UNL), which I am told use to be Embassies. I'm not sure if that's true..but the houses are really gorgeous old houses. IF money was put into these things, this area could be a real cool place to live. Granted that would make the rent go up and many of the tenants wouldn't have a place to live. Anyways...KNOWING that I'm in an area that tests my faith in GOD daily, I have given into the fact that helicopters with huge spot lights fly by at night (thank goodness for thick curtains). I've given into the fact that cars with kickin' stereos blare music so that the whole neighborhood can join in and sing the latest song about "apple bottom jeans" and "boots with the fur" or whatever. I've also given into ignoring all the extra bleeps and honks that happen outside my front window.

Last night around 11:30ish, I'm reading and hear some bleeps and such, people yelling, but I keep reading and don't think much about it. The night before, I looked out to see a large circle of people in the parking lot next to us. They were throwing what looked to be water balloons at one guy. It looked almost like hazing...or a major game of kill the carrier! In the morning, a large orange stain was where the guy had been losing the dodge balloon game!

Anyways..back to last night. So one of my housemates knocks on my door and asks me if I've seen the police bust going on outside. I jumped up and ran to the window and saw this time a circle of cops around a guy and his bike. I didn't want to gawk, but I went to my other window and tried to watch without being seen. My housemate said something about it being an attempted burglary. I grabbed my camera and tried to get some pictures without being seen through my front window blinds. Here are the pics.

I know it's kinda blurry...okay, way blurry, but you can see the circle of people (those are the cops) and then the one or maybe two guys in the middle (with a bike).

And here's the cop SUV that was making the bleeping sound we were hearing. This was taken after the cops finished talking to the man and he took his bike and walked off. I'm not sure at all what it was all about, but what's cooler then seeing a possible cop bust just yards away from your front door!!! I haven't had this much fun since I watched cops bust kids for drugs in the dorms!

Until laterz!

The Drawing Club

2008-07-14T16:35:00.000-05:00

I've posted some sketches from this past Thursday night Drawing Club over on "The DakotaKid Corral". Check the post out HERE .

Until laterz!

The Blue House

2008-07-10T02:04:00.022-05:00

The Tuesday night we got into LA, a buddy of mine, Caleb, from Sioux Falls calls me and says he's stuck overnight in LA. He was on his way to Hawaii, but the flight was cancelled. The airlines put him up, but we went over and picked him up to go to dinner with us and the Taguchi's. We went to a Japanese restaurant and had some really good food. After dinner, I took Caleb back to his hotel so he could get some sleep.

Some of you may know that I was moving out to LA without a job and without a permanent place to live. Before I left South Dakota, a possible temp place to rent came up. It was a house of about seven guys, many in the Entertainment industry. After I dropped off Caleb at the hotel, I headed over to the USC campus to check out the place nicknamed "The Blue House" .

I finally found the street that the house was on and walked up to the house. There was a bible study going on that I knew would be finishing soon, so I sat on the outside porch...waiting for either the bible study to break up or for someone else to come home. Soon, a truck came driving in the driveway. The driver came up to the front and introduced himself as Kevin. He brought me in and gave me a tour of the house and room that was for sublet. After the tour, I met a few more of the house guys, along with some of the other people that were at the bible study. It ends up that all the guys in the house go to Mosaic for church. Mosaic was one of the churches I had been referred to by an LA friend (thanks Linda!!). After some more chatting with people from the house, I said my goodbye and headed back to the Taguchi's.

After some figuring out and some wonderful blessings by my family, I decided that this sublet was the best thing for me at this time. The room I'd be renting is a big furnished room. It makes not having a ton of my household goods with me easier. It has a twin bed (a drop from my queen sized bed back in SD). It has a computer desk, a futon, and a love seat. The guy who's room this is had to leave the country for a few months and left most of his stuff here. So, that means I don't have great storage, but I can make the most of it. Friday morning, the FOURTH OF JULY (and my buddy Josh's 21'st birthday!!), I got the keys to the house and moved in my luggage and life!

Friday night I drive Heather and Emilia to the airport. We get her suitcases brought in and weighed in. After a few minutes waiting in line for the checkin to start, we quickly get up to the counter. After some smooth talking from Heather, we were on our way to taking the luggage to the x-ray. Once that was through, we headed up for some food and last few minutes with my sister and niece. Soon the time came for Heather and Emilia to go through the security. It was hard to see them leave, but I knew they needed to get back to Jeff and their mission in Taiwan. I headed from the airport back to the Taguchi's. Saturday morning, we went to breakfast and then I headed over to my new place. Here's a photo tour of my new dig's:

My room is on the second floor, corner with the fireplace. I got one window, which looks onto the street, and one that is on the side of the house (and actually a third one on the side of the house..but that's a closet window.

This is the driveway side of the house. Parking is in the back.

Here's the front door of the BIG Blue House!

Once through the front door, you enter the foyer area of the house. The stairs go up to five of the bedrooms.

The door in the corner leads to the kitchen and back of the house. Theres a doorway to the left of this picture that leads to the front room, also the main common area of the house.

The front room, aka TV room/meeting room/game room/fireplace room/general get to know people room (with a projector, sound system and huge screen).

The stairs that lead to upstairs..and my room.

Here's bathroom #1, and actually two bedrooms. One door is to the right just before the bathroom. The other room is to the left and THROUGH the bathroom.

At the top of the stairs and to the left are the other three bedrooms and the other bathroom. My room is the one at the end of the hall, to the right.

The room was really clean and felt really warm and welcoming...

...and just ignore the clutter of my stuff! But what do you expect from a gypsy??!!

Here's the main bathroom in the house. This is the only shower for the upstairs. There is so much room in here..totally could remodel this thing and put in a hot tub!

Through the foyer and doorway, brings you to the kitchen.

The door to the right leads to a basment....have yet to go down there. The door was locked one day..and then next it was open. I checked it out, but didn't get further then looking into the dark.

Here's the first of two fridges and the third bathroom, as well as the last two bedrooms of the house.

The second fridge and then the backdoor.

Here's the final bathroom, which happens to be the "guest" bathroom. There actually is another shower in there too, but it's not used.

The back of the house. Notice the swing up on the roof. That's Kevin's "porch swing". His is the room that you have to go through the bathroom to get too. I haven't gotten a chance to check out the view from up there...but I'll try to get some pictures from up there.

Currently we have nine cars that are parked back here...I'm amazed we can all do it! Luckily, not all of us have SUV's! Well..there's my tour of my new home for the next couple months...THE BLUE HOUSE!!

Until laterz!

Discovering LA

2008-07-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

After the four day cross-country drive, Heather and I did a little exploring of LA, along with getting Heather and Emilia ready to get back to Jeff in Taipei. One day we drove up to Hollywood. Heather realized she hadn't really ever done the tourist thing around the home of the Oscars. We walked along the "walk of fame".

Then we stopped by the Disney Soda Fountain and had a "pre-lunch" sundae. But first Emilia HAD to have her first picture taken with Mickey Mouse.

Now notice the cute yellow outfit Emilia's got on. Even at the tender age of 17 months, Emilia knows how to get new clothes. By the time we finished our sundaes, we had to purchase a new outfit for her. Luckily they had an pink Minnie outfit in the back. It was 9 months, yet our little peanut was STILL swimming in the thing!

Well, after exploring the hand prints around Mann's Chinese Theater, we headed outta the tourist trap that is Hollywood and went to meet friends of Heather and Jeff's in Pasasena. And then back to the Taguchi's to get more packing done.

California Dreamin'

2008-07-09T23:45:00.000-05:00

It was a week ago today that I finally reached the start of my California Dream. My sister, Heather, and I (along with my niece, Emilia) left our folks and nephew at the Hy-Vee on East 10th Street in Sioux Falls on Saturday morning. With my trading in my fuel efficient VW Jetta for a wonderfully spacious, yet gas guzzling, Ford Explorer XLT, we packed in as much of my life as I could.

Topped off by a car seat and two pieces of Heather's luggage, our troop headed off to our first destination point, Casper, WY. Emilia was asleep before we even hit the interstate and pretty much slept the whole way to Casper. We drove across the wonderful state of South Dakota towards Rapid City. We documented our road trip on video, which we hope to get posted soon.

After finally getting through Rapid City (AAA had us going to visit Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse), we made our way to Casper. We pulled into town in early evening and found our hotel. After going to dinner, we rested in the hotel and then got some sleep...well, some of us. Emilia decided she wasn't as tired as us. Finally we all got some sleep and got an early start in the morning. Next stop Las Vegas!

Sunday, the second day, was the longest of the trip. So far the new car was keeping up really well, and I was getting used to driving a larger car WITH luggage on the top. Emilia decided she wasn't going to be as tired and wanted a little more attention then the day before. We drove from Casper down to Salt Lake City. We played a game as we went through SLC. Call it, "Morman Steeple Search". It started out as kind of a joke, but by the time we through the city we had seen over 20 cross-less churches. That's just along the interstate. All the way into Arizona, the game continued. By evening, we'd crossed into the Pacific time-zone and hit Las Vegas. We pulled into Heather's Vegas house and unloaded the baby and our stuff. This was a really nice place to rest after the trip so far. Heather went and got food for us at Chili's and I watched the little girl. We decided to stay one day more, Monday, in Vegas so Heather could do a few things before she and Emilia flew back to Taiwan. Also, I wanted to hit a Disney Outlet Store that is in the area. I used the free day to also get some freelance work done.

Tuesday morning we got packed back into the car. Emilia still didn't enjoy having to ride in the car seat. It was always a joy to put her in that thing! The drive from Vegas to Los Angeles was the shortest drive, but feels the longest sometimes. We got into California and passed the produce check point, barely! This was the first time either Heather and I had ever gone through the check point when it was open. The guy at the check point looked at our South Dakota plates and asked us to roll the back window down. I looked back at all my stuff and we told the guy it might be a little hard. We told him it's jammed packed with my stuff since I was moving to LA. Not that we had anything to hide, but I guess he believed us enough to just wave us through. After that, it was free sailing to the big city. We found our way into Torrance without much problem and pulled into the Taguchi's driveway in early afternoon. Grandpa and Grandma Taguchi were excited to see Emilia again.

Finally I'd arrived to LA. It was still all surreal, but now that the cross country drive was over...I could start living the dream for real!

Florida Trip 2008...pt. 2

2008-06-09T12:00:00.001-05:00

So after we left the Magic Kingdom, Ben and I rode the bus over to the newly RENAMED Disney's "Hollywood Studios". Ben is a huge Ohio State fan. He talked to ANYONE that had Ohio clothes on or looked like they were from the state. This happened again, just outside of the studio entrance. While I was taking this photo of the entrance, Ben was being social! The people he was talking to were as excited as he was. This time it all paid off. This family from Ohio had been lucky enough to be chosen by the Dream Team and granted two Ultimate FastPasses. They had only used one of the passes and were leaving the park for the day, so they gave them to us. It was really cool! The only bugger was that the passes didn't come with the Dream Cloud Ears...the one thing I really wanted! I was tempted to ask someone if winning ANYTHING from the Dream Team got the ears and act like we hadn't gotten our Ears, but figured that'd be pushing our luck. For all we knew, they would look to see that we hadn't been the winners and screw it all up!

This is close to my favorite park. It's my world..HOLLYWOOD! I sometimes wish I'd been alive back in the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood. Here's where I can indulge in that dream. We were still on the goal to hit all four parks, so we mainly were there for the rides. We headed to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror first. A favorite! Love the theming...love the premise..and LOVE the drops!!

After the drop...we got to use our first Ultimate FastPass for Rockin' Rollarcoaster. I was nervous we'd get caught..but it was sweet going through fast and feeling like royalty for a sec. But to be honest, this time of year had the park with just the right amount of people so no wait was even that long. But it was still fun having the passes...felt really cool!

We had done the big rides, and after some pin shopping and looking for any cool villians stuff, I was good to hit the fourth park in one day. But then Ben realized the Star Wars portion of the park...which I'd totally forgotten about. Well, not really, I'm a HUGE fan of Star Tours, but I've been on it many times and I'm waiting for them to get the updated ride done (hopefully soon! Let's go Lucas!!). This ride was also on our Super Pass..but the guy at the gate told us we wouldn't need it..and he was right. Unfortunatly, not having to wait made it harder for Ben to fully take in all the great stuff alone the que. Ben was starting to loose energy when we got to this park, but getting to ride on an Endor speeder gave him some renewed energy. I was only bummed we were like a few weeks too early for the "Star Wars Days" held at the park in June. Wish we coulda seen the Jedi Academy. I've heard from a good source it's a pretty cool experience for young kids..or young at heart!

After we finished the rides and some shopping at the Studios, we were gonna try to hit the last park, EPCOT. But the full day had gotten to us, and we realized we'd barely make it. So, we decided in stead to go to Downtown Disney and get food. We headed back via the bus to the Magic Kingdom parking lot. The bus driver talked with us a little and suggested we watch the Pirates and Princess fireworks show from the Polynesian beach. I hadn't ever been to the Polynesian resort and was really impressed. It makes me really want to try some of the other on property places to stay. Fun pool and the beach was fantastic!

After we wandered the resort and walked around the pool, we found a place on the beach and watched a pretty good fireworks show.

It was a whirlwind trip through the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH, but I'll take any amount of Disney fun that I can! Thanks, Gene, for sending us!!

Until laterz!

Last Cities visit...for now

2008-06-08T22:50:00.003-05:00

I took the weekend to go up to my old stomping grounds in the Minneapolis area. I wanted to catch up with some good friends before I make "THE MOVE". I realized I hadn't been up since a year ago, pretty much exactly. I stayed with my childhood friend, Anthony. He and his wife, Kerri, were my landlords for a year when I went to the Art Institute International-MN earlier in the decade. They are like family. They have a beautiful little peanut, Camryn, who today turned 2!!
(click on images to see larger versions)

They went to college at Bethel College with many of my other Minneapolis friends. I also got to catch up with another good "brother" of mine, Andy. After hearing about her for the last couple months, I finally was able to meet the girl that holds his heart, Kelly. She was a sweet gal and fit right in with the other girls. We all gathered at Ian and Lara, where we cooked out

and watched a master class of pie making, performed by the hosts.

It was great to see Ian and Lara's new house, which I totally forgot to take a picture of. But I did get to take plenty of pictures of their two young ladies, Lily and Cici. Add in Camryn and it made for many photo ops!

It was a wonderful time to catch up and see old friends, and new ones!

Unfortunatly, we had to get going before the pies were totally cooled...that was maybe the biggest bummer...just look at this masterpiece!!! Way to go Chef Ian!!

Until laterz!

Florida Trip 2008...pt. 1

2008-06-05T14:30:00.001-05:00

I've had this post on my "to do" list ever since I've gotten back from the trip. Finally it's here. A little background on this random trip. My boss, at the gym I coach at, sent myself and another coach down to Florida for a short little trip. Just 'cause! Ben and I decided we didn't want to just sit around the whole two days we were actually there, so we decided to hit up the theme parks. I hadn't been to Universal Studios Orlando/Islands of Adventure, but figured this would be a good oppertunity to do that park. So we took one day to do Universal. I didn't take my camera that day, so my only pics are on my phone, and I haven't figured out how to get them off it. Ben did take some with his camera, but I haven't gotten copies from him yet. I loved Dueling Dragons (but only if you wait in the line for the front seat) and I loved the Spiderman ride. I enjoyed the Hulk rollercoaster and the Doom ride too, but really we were done with the rides by about 1pm. We then realized that our tickets would get us into BOTH parks, so we hit up Dueling Dragons again and then headed over to the Studios and lunch. I've been to the LA Universal Studios when I was younger (that's a WHOLE other blog, as my family would be able to remember) and this version was pretty much the same. We got on the Simpson's ride (which I found out later that it wasn't even officially open yet). I guess it is in the old Back to the Future ride site, and according to Ben it was basically the same ride experience. Honestly, I can't even really remember what other rides we hit. There was the Mummy ride, which in my opinion was a little dated. The mummy animatronics were sad. The big thing that was confirmed on this day was my dislike of many middle school girls (and guys too, but mainly girls) let loose at an amusement park, alone. They can be the most annoying creatures at that age! One on one, it's cool..but dang...put them with other girls and BOOM! you got a major kill joy on some rides. That's all..I'm off my soapbox.

The second day we hit up the Walt Disney World Resort. Now, for most that know me, it's amazing to think I could go to the resort and spend only ONE day there. Four days isn't enough for me usually. But I took this as a challenge. Thankfully, an old co-worker from my Disney Store days (who had been working for the parks for about a decade) came through with two hopper passes for Ben and I. This solved a huge question of what park to go to. We decided to try to hit all four parks. A HUGE feat for anyone. But since Ben isn't a big Disney fan like myself...I figured this would be a good chance to try to just do the major rides and buzz through the world.

(Click on the images to see a larger view)

We hit up Animal Kingdom right off in the morning. Mainly cause I wanted to catch Expedition Everest. I had been wanting to get on this ride since it opened a year or so ago. The line went fast and the ride was in full working order and was a blast. I really enjoy the latest Disney Mountain. I'm always up for Disney to add more E-ticket rides!

After walking around the park for Ben to see the newest park (he hadn't been to WDW since he was a kid), we headed over to the Magic Kingdom to meet some friends of mine. After being introduced via iChat to fellow Husker fan/Disney fan/Mac lover Brian by my sister, it was great to finally meet him and his wife, Beth in person. We continued the challenge of hitting the main rides and experiences with our new friends.

We hit the upgraded Pirates ride. I still think Disneyland's version is my favorite. Although, I haven't seen how Hong Kong's version is. It wasn't open when I was there last. We also hit up the newly "plussed" Haunted Mansion.

That was great to see the changes and it's always a favorite. Then we hit Space Mountain and the new Monster's Inc, "Laugh Floor" (which if you've seen Turtle Talk with Crush, it's just as fun!). We then hit up Mickey's Philharmagic. I'd seen this in Paris or Hong Kong, but it's a fun show to see again. I kinda wish they'd come up with a few different shows so you could come back and see a new version every trip to the Magic Kingdom.

After that, we split up as Brian and Beth had dinner plans and Ben and myself were trying to get in two more parks. We headed back to the main gate and I did some shopping, of course! One of my gymnast's mom know's I collect Mickey Mouse ears and told me I needed to go to this one shop where you can build your own ears, called "The Chapeau". Well, I didn't end up making any ears cause it was a little spendy and I wasn't seeing any ears that I really really wanted. The ears I REALLY want are the cloud ears that are only given out by the Dream Team. Still trying to get those ears!!!

As we were leaving, the Disney people were setting up for the Mickey's Pirates and Princess Party. It's a Ticket Event that had plenty of people coming in costume for. It is similar to the Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party that I went to back in 1999. But from what I've heard, this incarnation has been scaled back so much it's not worth it. I guess you don't get as much cool, special free stuff like you did when it started or like other parties. I mean, why make an event WORTH the $50 ticket???

After the Magic Kingdom, Ben and I headed to the newly re-named, Disney's Hollywood Studios....

Cartoonist Day Exhibit 2008

2008-05-03T17:30:00.002-05:00

HAPPY NATIONAL CARTOONIST DAY!!!

Last month, I participated in a touring cartoon exhibit here in Sioux Falls. This is the second annual Cartoonist Day event and we had more artists then we had last year. It was (and is) a two part show. The first part was at a coffee shop in downtown, called "Michelle's". I was excited to show some of my recent work, but because of space, I was only able to put up two pieces. Here's a photo from the first phase of the show.

The exhibit is currently at Black Sheep Coffee in the western part of downtown Sioux Falls. We had more space, but to be honest, the show doesn't look as cool as it did over at Michelle's, but I was able to put up one other piece. This was the one I had put the most time and money into..so of course I wanted to make sure it got shown. and here it is. Believe me, it's better in person! Each image is individually matted. It's entitled "Imagination".

The "Imagination" piece, added to the second half of the show.

My three pieces installed at Black Sheep Coffee.

I really enjoyed participating in this show. It's fun to catch up with other illustrators and cartoonists. I really hope I can find a group like this in LA when I move. It makes the fine artist in me happy to be a part of shows like this. If your in the Sioux Falls area before May 11th, stop over and check the show out at Black Coffee. And if you'd like to see some pics from the show reception follow this link: http://sfcartoonists.blogspot.com/2008/04/cartoonist-reception-highlights-at.html

Until laterz!

The Last of the Nine!

2008-04-15T12:45:00.003-05:00

A legend of animation has passed away yesterday. Ollie Johnston, the last of Disney's famous "Nine Old Men", died yesterday at the age of 95. Many Disney sites, along with many animation sites have postings about this sad news. Ollie, along with his friend Frank Thomas, created some of the most memorable animated characters and scenes in history. Many people may not know these men, but most definitely they would know there work on such classics as Snow White and the Seven Dawarfs and Jungle Book.

As an aspiring animator, I had hopes to get to meet Frank and Ollie, but that was not to be. Even though that dream didn't happen, I have been inspired and encouraged by there work and books. Just like many young kids interested in animation, Ollie and Frank's book "The Illusion of Life" was a staple of weekend reading for me as a child...and as an adult!

My thoughts and condolences go out to the Johnson family and friends. The animation community has lost a TRUE LEGEND!

SF Cartoonist Show

2008-04-03T13:04:00.002-05:00

Hey all! If any of you loyal readers are in, or will be, in the Sioux Falls area the next few weeks, then check out the traveling Sioux Falls Cartoonist's Exhibit. The first stop is at "Michelle's" coffee shop, downtown at 12th & Phillips. Then it moves to Black Sheep Coffee at the end of the month. Go out and support us starving artists!! and it may not say it, but I'd sure be willing to let some art lover go home with one of my prints...for a decent cost, of course! :)

the DanDrea Wedding...pt 3

2008-03-12T01:00:00.012-05:00

Then on Saturday, we all joined in celebrating Andrea and Daniel's uniting in marriage. It was a beautiful, GERMAN wedding! It was a small church, with tight parking. I'm pretty amazed at how Julie was able to find a spot in that ice/snow packed lot. Keeping in mind that she's not use to winter driving AND I think new to mini vans.

Mel and Jessie show off the PRE-WEDDING shoes. And here we have some of the bridesmaids...fellow ORTVers, Rachel and Linda. Don't they just look great!

The flower girl was hilarious from when she raced down the aisle to playing with her bouquet.

The father of the bride and the bride, Andrea. What a moment!
The Medeiros', Amy and Tom. A year and a half ago it was Amy in the dress!!
And the future "Mr." of "Mr & Mrs. DanDrea"

The wedding ceremony was beautiful. They had two pastors overseeing the ceremony, I believe the first one was the pastor from Andrea's parent's church (which I think is the same church the whole thing was happening at! ha!). Then the second pastor was Daniel's Dad. He was a funny, German pastor. He was entertaining...even if it did go over the original time he said he'd take! Our friend Amy read part of the scripture reading (using my Bible!! I knew I'd work my way into the ceremony SOMEHOW!!) and my very TALENTED brother, Campbell lead the worship time and shared a song while the couple were signing the paperwork. Speaking of which...has ANYONE ever gone to a wedding where the couple and the people standing up with them leave the guests in the pews as they go into a side room to sign what I thought was the wedding license, but later someone said it was signing something of a wedding record for the church.

To truly show how laid back and easy going Andrea must have been on this special day, you only had to see how at ease she was when a snaffu in the wedding itinerary happened. After the message by Daniel's Dad, the other pastor proceeded to skip over the vows and exchanging of rings and go right to the kneeling at the alter. But after something was said about the rings, everything got back on track. Andrea was DEFINITELY not a bridezilla!! She showed she was use to things not going totally on script! One of the many things I love about my friend, Drea!!!

...and introducing Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Bastke!!!!

It was a quick exit for all the wedding party.

That's it for now..but there's more from the post-ceremony fun to come soon!!!

Until laterz!

the DanDrea Wedding...pt 2

2008-03-08T23:30:00.000-06:00

So after a funfilled day at Niagra Falls, we then met up with the wedding party! It was another great reunion time for the past ORTV friends. After meeting Andrea's family and seeing the home she grew up in, we all headed over to this Canadian institution called, Tim Horton's. Has anyone outside of America heard of this place?? It's like our Dunkin' Donuts massed together with Bagel Boy throw in a bit of Starbucks and shake in a few morning sandwiches from Mickey D's and you have Tim Horton's. I do have to say, they have a french vanilla hot smoothie that was pretty dang good.
Adam (friend of Daniel's), Linda and Naomi

Julie, Melissa and Jessie (these guys are gonna be going to Montreal together after the wedding. Continuing the tradition of a fun filled road trip we started @ Amy's wedding. GRACELAND BABY!!)

In the next fun filled installment, we'll finally get to the big day! Here comes the bride....

Until laterz!

the DanDrea Wedding...pt 1

2008-03-07T23:29:00.016-06:00

This past February, I went up to the Great White North of the Toronto, Canada area for the wedding of good Taiwan friends, Daniel and Andrea! This was part of what has become an annual Taiwan reunion time for those of us no longer together at ORTV. It's actually the third wedding that has brought most of us together each time. It was a wonderful time and a BEAUTIFUL wedding. I have noticed some others posting pics, but have been asked by several when I'd be posting more of mine. So here goes.

Here's Julie, a Cali girl, scraping off her first car load of snow from the night's storm the night before. She got a lot more chances to fine tune her clearing skills by the end of her time in Canada!

Jessie, Melissa, Julie and Naomi
Gabe and your favorite Blogger, ME!!

The day before the wedding, some of us "non-wedding party" peeps went with Naomi (our Canadian host and tour guide) and her mom, brother and sister-in-law to see the Niagra Falls

Here's the group (minus me) in front of the Canadian, and much more impressive, side of the Niagra Falls.
One of the best things about this time of year at the Falls was the game of ICE THROWING! It was a challenge to actually get the ice from the railings to hit open water.
Gabe doesn't read Canadian, I guess, otherwise I'm sure he'd follow the "Do NOT do this" sign!!

I'd seen Niagra Falls before, but this was by far a more memorable time at the natural wonder. And it was a blast to have some fun and make some "Sparkles", as Drea would say! After this, we went and had some Middle Eastern food and then the Taiwan group headed to the Taiwan reunion with the wedding party people back in Kitchner-Waterloo.

More to come!

a bit of my world...

2008-03-07T22:30:00.002-06:00

Hey people! Thanks for checking out my blog. I'm gonna try to use this one for the many "Sparkles" and adventures that occasionally happen to this DakotaKid and his world!