I have entered the Houdini Cook-Off challenge and will be hosting the images from my blog, as it will allow me to insert them in-line at the forums, plus it’s nice to have a local sketchbook of my progress. I’ll spare everyone any technical details, but if you’re curious, just go checkout the SideFX website for more details.
Some miscellaneous stuff jumbled together with my project brain-storming notes (pun intended).
and a little more behind the scenes…
Just doing a little playing with a SSS shader in Houdini.
Amon Tobin’s newest live show is a stunning musically driven live projection celebrating the release of his ISAM album. Below is an extended trailer via Vimeo.
Though it is no longer downloadable for free, the ISAM album is still available for preview on SoundCloud.com (including commentary).
For hundreds of years, the Japanese have been making mechanical puppets called Karakuri ningyō. In this short documentary, you can see little clockwork dolls performing back-flips, painting calligraphy and shooting with a bow and arrow.
Recognizing and accepting the ups and downs is tricky. I don’t have any trouble recognizing them and labeling them, but accepting them is a different story. By “accepting”, I simply mean that I’m always reminding myself that life isn’t always an upwards trend. However, unless you can look at all the challenges as kicks in the head that may make you aware of alternate paths that might remove you from habitual loop. Kicks in the head help you learn, and learning is progress… so I guess it IS an upwards trend. Huh!
Last week I went to the waterfront to listen to some music and get some sun, but within minutes a storm started to roll through. I saw it coming, so I quickly ran under a tree for shelter. Under the tree I was forced to hide my music away and just gaze at the darkened view of the lake as large drops of collected rainwater snaked their way around the leaves, dripped onto my head and ran down my neck. Eventually a certain peace came over me and I wasn’t concerned about being wet. I saw some people stressed out by being rained on, and yet others seemed to welcome the cooling wetness. After the storm passed I looked at my hand and noticed a small spider had joined me for warmth and shelter from the rain. I looked up through the branches and the sun appeared unusually sparkly. After a few minutes, I returned to my bench by the lake and relaxed in the silence. To exaggerate the dreamy state that I was in, the wet concrete was warm enough to steam, forming a light fog that crawled across the sidewalks and into the grass.
You can bet that I appreciated the sunshine more, after the rain came through.
The difficult part is keeping the energy up and remaining positive through the challenges. For me, it’s a matter of remaining optimistic or, better yet, just being grateful for where I’m at. I think it’s pretty easy to find these positive gems in nature… but it’s a bit of a pain when stuck behind a laptop.
There’s still much to do this month, but in thinking back to last week’s trip to the boardwalk, I can start to feel where something good might come of all this. I will make something good come of all this. Life is pushing me and I will roll with it to see what direction it’s leading me to.
*takes deep breath*
PostPanic recently spent 6 months creating this 6 minute title sequence for the 2011 OFFF Festival, hosted in Barcelona. If this dark accelerated cyberpunk future doesn’t disturb you, then maybe you kept your eyes shut for too long or forgot to put your headphones on.
I was unaware of what was going on, till it was almost over. This past week was the annual North By Northeast Music & Film Festival… and Conference.
On Thursday I went to a show that started at midnight and ended at a 4am? A friend of mine recommended I join her to see Noah Pred, who did not disappoint. There’s plenty of music being labeled, “Tech House”… and I’m really liking the sound of much of what I’ve heard… especially when it stays tribal and funky. I’m tempted to call it “Minimal House”.
On Saturday I was taking a rail car into downtown and disembarked when we hit a diversion point. I soon walked past a huge line of Lady Gaga fans who were waiting for hear arrival. In Dundas Square, I was with thousands watching Devo playing on a big screen. Large, free (with donation) bottles of energy drink were being consumed by many. Even ran into , complete with illuminated logo t-shirts. Plus, all week long, many venues received a special alteration to their liquor licenses… they could serve till 4am???
On a different, but similar note… Sunday night was my first experience of Cherry Beach. Other than Tuesday night’s in Whistler, BC… I haven’t seen this many people rock it out on a School Night in a long time. What? You say this is EVERY Sunday? Oooh boy.
What do you do when you’re not working, but have to find a quiet place for studies? Well, ya head to the nearest library and share in the studying power of others. 
No internet at home, other than a crazy setup involving my phone (tethering rules). Been using the local libraries for their wireless internet. Some are nicer than others… :\ Only need to do this when working with web stuffs.
Been out of the cubical for over a year now, so I guess this is an excuse to surround myself with others, without feeling obligated to buy a coffee.
As a reward, I allow myself to ping the Facebook before disconnecting. Hah… “reward” on Facebook. HAH.
Ok, time to head out. It’s foookin hot up in here. This ceiling fan isn’t really helping any. I wonder why.
I just completed Week 1 in downtown Toronto. All these years of loving this city, yet this is the first time I’ve actually stayed her for an extended period. No more 4 hour drives to just party on the weekend. Instead, I can visit nearly all my friends via a 15 minute ride on transit. My place is small… “tiny” actually, but it’s starting to grow on me. I’ve never lived in such a small space before, which is proposing challenges to me. So far, so good. I can now truly appreciate Apartment Therapy. I also now have my workstation built. It feels good to again be using Linux. I suppose it must sound crazy for a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer to say that he’s happy to be using Linux. Just consider it an educated decision. Won’t be getting any work using open source software, any-time soon, but I’m on break and building new skills. Been loving this time off.
They say that Parkdale is the creative hub of Canada (at least, “one of”). Last week I ran into a mixer right in the middle of Liberty Village. I met a few people in marketing, animation and information technology. Areas I’m familiar with, so there was much to talk about. I feel like I’m following the right path and I find it funny how everything fell into place. Not interested in “work”, but it was good to connect with a familiar vibe.
A few weeks back I brought my camera out and took some footage in High Park, and here’s one of the highlights. One squirrel chasing around another squirrel, with a cameo appearance by a bird. These little guys feel a little bigger when running around in slow motion, but their personality really shines through.
Unfortunately, I decided against doing my own voice-over. Next time, I promise.
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