"Brave" event at Lesley/AIB tomorrow (UPDATED!)

Updated and moved to it's own post!

The Art Institute of Boston is hosting an exhibition and Q&A, of "Brave" tomorrow afternoon for Lesley/AIB students and alumnae.  Free.  Screening.  Of "Brave".  With a Q&A.  And if you went to Lesley, you can go.

IMPORTANT ADDENDUM: Yeah... not so much on the screening part. I just got an email from Yifan Luo, AIB's social networking manager, who said:

"Hi Trish,

"I hope you're having a nice day so far! I manage the Art Institute of Boston Facebook and Twitter feeds, and noticed that your blog has been advertising our Brave event as a movie screening. Please not that this is NOT the case! We are hosting a presentation on the animation process and a Q & A with Brian Larsen from Pixar, info copied below:

"All are invited to a presentation for Disney Pixar's BRAVE Followed by the Illustration Senior Show Opening TOMORROW (Friday) April 27, 3:30 p.m.

700 Beacon Street, Kenmore Square, in the Auditorium Room 215

Brian Larsen, "Brave" story supervisor, will give a presentation on animation production from start to finish. He is a huge talent in the animation field. This is a rare opportunity to hear from a master in the field! Pixar's new release, "Brave," is covered in a story on the AIB Illustration blog here.

The Illustration Senior Show Opening follows the talk at 5pm in the AIB Main Gallery on the ground floor.

"Please help us ensure that your followers are aware of this. Thanks so much for your help, and hope to see you on Friday!"

To be fair, the Tweet (not from Lesley/AIB or Pixar for the record) I happened to learn about this event on was very misleading.  So, yeah this is a disappointment, but it will definitely still be worth attending just to hear Larsen's talk and see the senior show.  Boston usually gets shafted when it comes to awesome animation events.

Princess Mia meets Carlos the Dwarf - the 2011 Oscars Live Blog!

Oh, why not. Oscar night comes but once a year and I live-blogged the male-equivalent television event after all.

So here's how this is (hopefully) going to work. I will try to start after 6:15 PM EST, which is about the time the award coverage begins locally. I will make no predictions. I am not even that emotionally invested as my favorite movies have no chance whatsoever of winning anything big (for example, Best Picture is essentially a race between "Social Network" and "King's Speech"). I will merely take the awards as they come and make comments that you will hopefully find hilarious.

6:33 - Our local ABC affiliate is airing a fluff piece about a local Oscar party that I can't really badmouth because it is run by the Ellie Fund. Aww.
There are also a few reports from the red carpet and, my God, it's been ten years, please LET BJORK'S SWAN DRESS GO ALREADY!!! (Or, more to the point, unless you can name one Bjork song, stop picking on Bjork for being Bjork.)

6:52 - Yeah, NMH. More H. R. Fluffinstuff about movies set in Boston. Woo.

7:07 - OK, here we go. Aw, I'm rooting for Hailee Steinfeld since she's genuinely appreciative and excited to be there.

7:20 - D'aww, the story of the children's chorus.

7:24 - Ah, we have ads for upcoming movies to discuss. "Limitless" looks kinda nifty... and then it pulled the "we only use blah percent of our brain" cliche. Dammit.

7:29 - OK, between the "mom-inees", the children's chorus, and some other things, this is going to be a very "Aww"-some Oscar night.

7:47 - "Red Riding Hood" = wut

7:57 - "Source Code" looks a little dull and confusing in it's ad, but it's got Jake G. in it and it's by Duncan Jones. "Moon" was my favorite surprise last year, and critics loved it. So... why isn't the commercial mentioning this at all?

8:20 - Somebody tell me how "The Adjustment Bureau" is different from "Dark City".

8:23 - And here's your first notable instance (that I saw) of Mood Whiplash tonight! (Tom Hanks' "Philadelphia" acceptance speech vs. Roberto Begnini's... whatever you want to call that.)

8:30 - It's time it's time!

8:33 - Huh... this is Mtv-ish. I like it though.

8:38 - That was fun! I kinda wanted to see what they'd do with "Toy Story 3" though.

8:41 - Mark's strained smile = priceless.

8:42 - So the much-hyped virtual set is... nice.

8:43 - LEO WAS ROBBED! XD

8:45 - Alright, I'll watch "Alice in Wonderland" already. The art directors were very sweet.

8:47 - Woo Wally Pfister! Also Christopher Nolan's strained smile = saddening.

8:57 - LEO WON!!! (Thank you, I'm here all night.)
Also, essays will be written about Michael Douglas' presentation. Long, long, long ones.

9:02 - Oh, Justin, you so crazy.
Also, you don't know the definition of animation do you?
And we have our first potential running gag, care of Michael Douglas.

9:04 - "The Lost Thing" won! I'm so happy!!! (Seriously watch it. It will make a rainbow in your heart.)

9:05 - And as happy as I am that "Toy Story 3" was nominated, imagine if there were five nominees. Stupid weird Academy rules.

9:14 - I feel we're going to be hearing this over-orchestrated version of the spare, eerie "Social Network" score a lot tonight.

9:18 - And we are going to hear the "King's Speech" music a lot too. The question is, WHICH MUSIC WILL WE HEAR MORE!?!

9:28 - Yay Denmark!

9:32 - Yay! My other website's mascot won! (Honestly, I'm happy. It's been a long, long, long road.)

9:38 - Ugh, the president of the Academy. Here we go...

9:40 - And that was surprisingly painless.

9:41 - Nice, subtle "Fantasia" tribute here.

9:44 - I live in a world where Trent Reznor has an Oscar. This is awesome.

9:47 - Methinks "Inception" will sweep the technical awards.

9:49 - I'm right so far!
Yeah, so why the hell isn't Christopher Nolan nominated for best director again? Or does the Academy just not like him?

9:56 - Don't eff with Rick Baker. He is a legend. The nominees were a little offbeat, but it really wasn't a contest.

9:59 - I only wish there was an award for creature design. *sigh*

10:02 - Thank you for reminding me how I am so Emo for movie songs.

10:13 - Very nice, Jake. That'll show everyone who treats the shorts categories as a bathroom break.

10:17 - Ah jeez, Autotune? Really?
Also, I am a fan of the guy who directed "God of Love".

10:20 - Personal surreal experience of the night: explaining who Banksy is to mom.

10:21 - A-n-d potentially awesome Oscar moment averted. Also, I wanted "Exit Through the Gift Shop" to win. Wah.

10:31 - The Bob Hope tribute was cute, but I kinda wish they'd picked a movie to represent special effects... somehow...
And "Inception" wins! Practical effects for the waffles!
Also, Jude and Robert are so much fun together that I wondered why they'd never done a movie together. Then I remembered they did...

10:35 - Aww, Dave Fincher's editors.

10:41 - KITTY!!! OMG, IT'S SO FLUFFY! WANT!
Ahem.

10:44 - "If I Rise" = Awesome. Every other nominated song = Meh.
But, OK, Randy Newman's fine too.

10:50 - I didn't write anything about the Best Buy ad with Ozzy Osborn and Justin Bieber during the Superbowl because it's just... sad.
Speaking of, here comes the In Memorium part...

10:57 - And thank you cheerful JC Penny and People Magazine ad for the mood whiplash. (But then, what could you air after that?)

11:01 - Home stretch everyone!

11:03 - (Pouts in sympathy for David Fincher...)
Err, I mean congrats to the man who helped my hometown's tourism a lot!

11:15 - I was just saying that I will be astonished if "Black Swan" went home with nothing. Congrats, Natalie!

11:25 - Next movie idea for Colin Firth: "The King's Gallstones". Seriously, aww.

11:32 - "And 'Crash'!"

11:36 - OMG "King's Speech" or "Social Network"?!?
And Steven answered a second after I hit "Publish". Congrats "King's Speech". Nice montage too.

Good night all, may you all get to your homes or other destinations safely, may your speeches never be cut off, and may your dreams be sweet.
D'aww, the little kids are singin'.

PAX East and shameless filler... I mean, Links of Interest!

It's the weekend of my birthday holy cow! March 11-13 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (right across the street from where Comicon was last year.) More information at the official website. The events that most directly tie into illustration are on Sunday morning (and, of course, I have a prior commitment that day. Wah.)

And now, since this would be a very short post otherwise, here are random interesting links for you.

First off, there is a review of a very weird Canadian children's film over at the Realm of Mad-Ness.

This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count! I'm not going to be able to do my usual live-blog of the event, but there is an excellent reason for that. Hopefully I'll have some great stories afterward.

I am a sucker for interesting (but still recognizable) variations on fantastic creatures, and Art Evolved guest artist Midhat Kapetanovic delivered with his unusual unicorns. If you love different takes on mythical beasts, check out the Alphabeastiary blog.

Everything is Terrible is a wonderful website that shares clips from the world of bizarre direct-to-video productions. (They were the ones who dug up that wondrous "Kids Inc." clip I shared during the Superbowl live-blog.) This week, they found something very special. At first I thought this was a straight random weird kids movie that decided, just because, to spend several lines of dialogue in the beginning explaining why their aliens happen to speak English. And then...

So how does one actor play a pair of twins? The answer is a heady combination of trick photography, animation, and lots of cooperation. I feel a little bad for Josh Pence here, but this clip is still fascinating.

Tipping Forties just finished their play through of "Super Mario Bros. Wii" and... it's something to see. (NSFW language.)

Over at Gurney Journey, a fan wrote in to ask why illustrators are so often ignored in art history courses, and prompted a much-needed list of good books on the history of illustration.

TetZoo has a brief but interesting article about avian display structures. Go forth and be inspired.

It is also the 150'th anniversary of the naming of Archaeopteryx. Those commemorative coins are amazing..

CHUD did a double-feature of "The Secret of N.I.M.H." and "The Plague Dogs", and expresses the confusion we all feel over a certain less-loved Pixar film.

Apparently there was a musical award show or something this weekend. Cee Lo Green did an awesome tribute to the well-loved Elton John episode of "The Muppet Show" (although, dear mainstream press, those were not Muppets. Stop being wrong.) Also, Lady Gaga finally turned into a giant bird. (Incidentally, her song doesn't sound like "Express Yourself" any more than "California Girls" [the Katy Perry one] sounds like "Tik Tok" sounds like "Just Dance" sounds like "Love at First Sight"...)

Toontown in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom has been shut down to make room for the great Fantasyland expansion, and Progress City has a fun look back at the strange little mini-park's history. I remember seeing that exact play once. It didn't get any less weird.

This is too cool not to share and it tells me that I need to get reacquainted with my friends who live in California. One of them works at Stargate Studios, which recently released a demonstration / promotional video that got some attention at The Best Week Ever. It's kind of mind-blowing.

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Feederwatch / Sketch of the Day Supercombo!

I looked out my window and saw this:

Super Bowl Commercial Live-Blog Extravaganza!

This probably isn't going to work, but I said that about the Macy's Parade earlier this (excruciatingly long, it turns out) season, didn't I? Just in case, I will give you plenty to keep you busy.

A Stranger In The Alps, who may just have the greatest online handle I have seen so far this year, recently posted a series of photographs from his trip to the Kenosha Dinosaur Discovery Museum. There is a wealth of reference to be found here, from this museum I hadn't ever heard of and is now a place I desperately want to visit some day.

I-Mockery paid a visit to the famous Cabazon Dinosaurs (as seen in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" and also possibly "The Wizard"!) And it turns out that they are actually stranger in person.



Also, it is the Year or the Rabbit! I am posting Symmetrical Sal here (instead of the more obvious Wild Carl) because he is, get this, my most popular upload ever at Flickr. Seriously, he has had 6,261 views. This is despite the fact that I probably spent the least time on this one drawing out of everything I've posted online. What the heck is going on here?

Anyway, I will have more rabbity things going on this week later.

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5:37 PM - Yeah Celtics! Yah yah yah!!! Also, there is a football game later tonight. (Naughty language in that link)

5:45 - I like how the ads for "Drive Angry" are (a) emphasizing that the thing was "filmed in 3D" because they have to do that now I guess, and (b) neglecting to explain what "Drive Angry" is actually about ("The Punisher" meets "Spawn". Really.)
Meanwhile, FOX has a weird definition of "fun".

5:58 - Today I learned that the Declaration of Independence exists so that we could ultimately drink beer, play football, and anticipate summer blockbuster movies. Yup.

6:36 - (Took a break for dinner.) The Superbowl isn't as important as the Berlin Wall falling, WTF? It is a football game.
Also, looks like I missed the "Kung Fu Panda 2" trailer. <: span="">

6:46 - Glad that "Far Side"-ripping-off Doritos commercial went in the less obvious direction. Also, WTF Audi?

6:51 - WTF Doritos cheese-obsessed guy
And Pepsi has given us this year's Women Are Vengeful Evil B*tches Ad.

6:55 - By the way, I know absolutely nothing about football or how it works. I just got to the part about Tyrannosaurs in Greg Paul's book.
I did enjoy the Bud Light product placement satire and the Chevy "Lassie" parody.
Apparently, there is another "Fast and the Furious" movie coming out "in summer". Actual release date: sometime in April. The trailer actually said, "summer begins this April". I predict that there will still be snow on the sidewalk by then (although I certainly hope there isn't).

7:03 - Once again, WTF Doritos
(They are sponsoring the game, so we're going to get to see a lot of these. Yay.)

7:06 - I guess Quetzelcoatl just wanted that KIA the most.

7:19 - Not sure if this one was just local, but I think we'll be hearing a lot of waargarbling over that Sealy's/Sleepies ad.

7:26 - I like how that last trailer was basically, "They allowed a third 'Bay-Formers' movie to be made; just to forwarn you."

7:28 - I got a Motorolla not-iPad it makes me diffrent an spechul!

7:33 - OK, here we go. LOVED the "World of Warcraft"-ish Coke ad (the look on the dragon = yay!) "Thor" looks pretty awesome. And the much-hyped mini-Vader VW ad was actually really cute.

7:41 - I wasn't the only one who got chills from the "Super 8" commercial am I? Love how it started like "E.T." and ended like "Cloverfield."

7:50 - No. No, no, no, no, no, NO NO NO GODDAMMITSOMUCH WE DO NOT NEED A CAR THAT WILL TELL YOU WHAT IS GOING ON IN FACEBOOK F*** YOU WHOEVER THOUGHT OF THAT WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU GAAAAHHH!
Also, "America! F*** yah!!!"

8:02 - Adorable Android mascot + Grafted-on human thumbs = There isn't enough in the world.

8:12 - You know what? Fergie came up with that "I'm so 2008 / you're so 2,000-LATE!" And she still loves it so much, she isn't going to change it. Good for her I guess.

8:13 - Oh hi, random Slash.

8:16 - If anyone's sick of the Peas, I have for you an alternative in the form of what is STILL the best song Fergie has ever been involved in:



8:21 - God, Chatter!Will.I.Am is terrifying.

8:45 - OK, thus far we've got to see:
* - A dude licking Doritos cheese off his coworkers fingers and pants.
* - A dude reanimating a disintegrated grandpa using Doritos.
* - A cute little CGI robot with realistic human thumbs messily sewn on.
* - An ostensibly cute CGI Will.I.Am with eerily realistic gooey human eyes.
And now,
* - A baby flying through the air and splattering it's face on a glass wall. (We are assured it is a doll, but still...)
What the hell, creepy factor of this year's ads?

8:55 - That last one took forever to write. So... new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. Yeah.
Also, momentarily saving money through groupon is more important than the plight of whales or the people of Tibet.

9:02 - In an earlier and very disappointing stop-motion commercial, Eminem assured us that he doesn't do commercials. OK. He has been in two commercials so far. Just pointing it out.

9:20 - Actual football playing. Meh.

9:23 - D'aww the classic (or not) TV characters watching football montage.

9:33 - I... don't know about "Rango". Nothing has really sold me on it yet.
On the other hand, that Cars.com commercial was wikkid cute.
Obligatory Animals That Think They're People Ad, this time from Bud Light.

9:36 - Eh, I could be sold easily on "Rio".
(Awkward pause.)
It has birds in it, you shut up. >:(

9:40 - And more actual football.

9:46 - Oh, just stop it, GoDaddy. Just stop it. S**t's getting old.
The Bridgestone beaver was cute.
The VW Beetle was freakin' adorable!

9:48 - Ba-hahaha, the "House" Mean Joe Green tribute.

9:57 - Teachers = Bad. Ass.

10:02 - OUR VERY FIRST "TERRA NOVA" COMMERCIAL HOLY CRAP!
And... it looks like "Lost" with "Jurassic Park" dinosaurs. *sigh*
I am still willing to wear a frilly tutu/the most ridiculous thing I find in Garment District/something equally embarrassing and inconvenient if we see a single feather.

10:07 - Oh, the Packers won. Yay, I guess.
Look, the Pats screwed it up again; I wasn't too emotionally invested.

10:11 - The more I see of "Mars Needs Moms", the more... repulsive it's characters become.
And we get to watch the Nightmare Fuel-errific Android with thumbs ad again.

10:34 - "Battle L.A." is DIFFERENT from "Skyline." IT JUST IS!!!
And with that, it looks like we're back to normal ads. Almost time for "Glee"! New post on Tuesday, see you then!

EDIT: Most of the trailers are viewable over at good ol' /Film.
And the rest of the commercials can be seen here.

In Which We Look at Old Children's Books I found in the Basement

I didn't find much cleaning out the basement that looked like it could be sold. But I found these:



Look at all these old children's books! A couple of them are in tough shape, but most of them are still decent and a few of them are minty (in condition, not scent - hence why they're all being aired out here)! I got the okay to auction them on Ebay if I could clean them off. As I did, I found some surprising things within.



One of which is this strange little Campbells Kids recipe book. I think it belonged to one of my aunts and she gave it to me when I was little. This page in particular fascinated me. To this day, I have never attempted to make a Flagpole Salad and I may have to now, so that I may enjoy the wondrous taste combination of pineapple, banana, cherry... and mayonnaise.
What is it with post-World War Two-era cookbooks and (let me be generous here) unusual taste combinations? And mayonnaise?



I'll admit it, I'm very curious to see what these vintage Disney Little Golden Books go for. They are definitely the most interesting part of the collection. I like how some of the stories are condensed in hilarious ways (in "Pinocchio", the encounter with Monstro is reduced to one sentence). Of these, the "Snow White" book is the most fascinating, as it includes a scene that was deleted from the film:



Ah, the bed-building scene! I still haven't reviewed the library books I recently read about the stories behind the Disney Animated Canon, but I will mention that "Snow White", if it had included every idea cut from the original script, would have been about three days long. The reason for this? Simple. This was their first feature, and the animators had no idea how much they could add or subtract to the story to make it feature-length.
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ROFLcon, MIT's big dang celebration of internet culture, is this weekend! But apparently, a lot of people already knew that, because all the tickets have sold out. The image accompanying that news on their blog is perfect.
We can still attend it, though, in a manner of speaking. It's an internet culture convention, right? Well, if I'm understanding things correctly, they're going to stream the whole thing.

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Photo of the day!
As promised, here's my spring bulb garden as it looks currently. All the work I did in October was worth it:


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Addendum: I can't believe I forgot this, but this Saturday is Free Comic Book Day! (You'd think this would be easier for me to remember.) Go visit a comic book store near you and get some free stuff.

Boston Comicon is this weekend!

Yaaaay! Here is the email:

Boston Comic Con

IN LESS THAN 30 DAYS THE BCC IS BACK! April 10-11, 2010 Starring Jim Lee & Mike Mignola, and Sergio Aragones (JUST ADDED)!

REMEMBER we have a new location: The Westin Boston Waterfront (425 Summer St.). There are two Westin's in Boston. Make sure you go to the Westin Boston Waterfront.

Our guest list is mind blowing. Check it out...

Jim Lee, Mike Mignola, Eric Powell, Joseph Michael Linsner, Jim Starlin, Bill Sienkiewicz, JH Williams III, Billy Tan, Steve Rude, Michael Golden, Ben Templesmith, Skottie Young, Joe Jusko, Cameron Stewart, Mike Norton,and many more!

We are also happy to announce media guest Amber Benson who played Tara Maclay on the hit TV series - Buffy The Vampire Slayer!

As an added bonus Marc Chiarello, Art Director for DC Comics, will be doing on site artist portfolio reviews both days. Do you have what it takes to be the next great DC artist? Sign up at the show!!

And wait, there's more...

1. Sunday only there will be a costume contest and speaker panels featuring Jim Lee, Mike Mignola, and Eric Powell.

2. Exclusive signed limited edition prints for The Boston Comic Con by Joseph Michael Linsner and Bill Siekiewicz will be available at the show for sale. Get there early before they sell out!

3. BCC T-shirts featuring Eric Powell's The Goon and Mike Mignola's Hellboy will also be available for sale. We are printing only a small supply of these shirts, so get 'em while you can.

The Boston Comic Con is hands down the best comic book show in New England featuring over 21,000 square feet of comic book artists and vendors. The BCC is privately owned and is not affiliated with any other shows or promoters. We are dedicated to delivering the fun, magic, and excitement that's supposed to be a comic con. If you didn't have fun, we didn't do our job!
You won't wanna miss this! See ya in April.
'Nuff Said.
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Now, there is a bit of sad news unfortunately. The Comicbook Artists Guild does not have it's own table this year -- however, we're making up for it by hosting an event after the Convention. Come on Saturday afternoon for more information.
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Last Feederwatch Friday of the Year!
Had some laughs, did some science!
Rock Pigeon 3
Mourning Dove 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 2
Northern Mockingbird 3 (!!!)
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 2
House Sparrow 11
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Sketch of the Day

I was getting a little tired of the headlines this little guy was inspiring.

Walt Disney World Trip Report part 3: The Remains of Old Attractions

So, did everyone have a fun April Fool's Annual Day The Internet Is Useless?
By far, the most interesting parts of our trip to Disney World were the parts where we went to see attractions that had been closed down for some reason or other. In one case, the attraction's building was at least still in use. In the other... well, you'll see.

Many EPCOT fans around my age lament the closing of the Wonders of Life Pavilion. Heaven on Earth for a biology geek like myself, the building opened in 1989 and focused on health and fitness on one hand and anatomy and physiology on the other. It contained three major attractions, including a multimedia show directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale and the (at the time) most state-of-the-art motion simulator ride in the World. Walt Dated World, naturally, has many photographs of the building, attractions, and signage.
Normally, you cannot enter the Wonders of Life building as it has been shut down for almost five years now, hoping for a new sponsor. The building, thankfully, is still in use on very rare occasions. I noticed on EPCOT's special guide map for the Flower and Garden Festival that Wonders would be open under the name "Garden Town". It's only open on certain days, but I had to see it.

As you can see, the layout of the original building is mostly still intact, except that the murals along the rim of the dome have been painted over and most of the signage is gone -- but not all of it. The building was *just* similar enough to what I remembered that it was a little sad to explore it. I had some interesting conversations with the cast members working inside, that's for sure.

By far, the funniest was trying to convince the people who didn't remember this pavilion that this theater used to hold a film about the making of... something else. Rather, some-ONE else. Yes, there was an attraction in Walt Disney World where they discussed human reproduction. Still to be answered: Is the middle of an already overstimulating Disney World vacation really the best time to have this subject brought up, maybe for the very first time for some kids?
Now when we booked our trip, we got a little booklet of vouchers for various little fun things (as if there isn't enough to do in the theme parks already). The most interesting was the discount on a boat rental. We took a boat out onto Bay Lake and took a cruise around for a different perspective. And then we saw this island:

Pretty isn't it? Very lush and wild; not something you'd expect just a few minutes from Cinderella castle. It took us a minute to realize that what we were looking at was Discovery Island.

Another little slice of Heaven for the nature nut, this little island was a cult favorite for many guests. Walt Dated World recounts the strange history of the Island. For us, it was just plain wild to see what happened to this abandoned Disney attraction.
People, this is the real life Jurassic Park. (OK, Jurassic Park as depicted in the terrible sequels, but the point still stands.) Everything built by humans has been overtaken by the plants and the island is now ruled by dinosaurs (really). I didn't have any clear photographs of the various birds that have taken over the Island, but I did detect some smug smiles on the Black Vultures Condors...
Here's a sketch:

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Bonus: Here are some old photos I scanned in a long time ago. And I'm willing to bet they're from Discovery Island in it's heyday. Click for... bigger, but still blurry.


And just recently, a photographer has posted on his blog about his adventure sneaking onto the Island late at night. The resulting photographs are like one part "Jurassic Park", two parts "Lost". Amazing!

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I found out -I literally just found out through a random website run by an exhibitor- that Anime Boston is happening... today (and, well, the rest of this weekend.) I don't think I can skip Easter to attend this event, but I figured I should give my readers a head's up. Also, attendees, don't take your nerd rage out on random people from New Hampshire, OK?
By the way, last weekend had PAX East (I didn't even realize and, frankly, that seemed more up my ally than this weekend's con), the FIRST Robotics competition, and the Flower Show; next weekend is Boston Comicon. There are going to be some exhausted nerds in the northeast. I'd never expect all these events to run all at the same time.
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Hey remember when I said that the promotional photo of the guy playing Aang in the not-exactly-hotly-anticipated live-action "Avatar" movie was everything anyone would ever have to say about film adaptations of animated series conveniently summed up by one picture? Yeah. I now have an even *better* promotional picture that will handily sum up everything anyone would ever have to say about film adaptations of animated series. Here it is. I will warn you, I am linking it instead of embedding it because it at worst will make your eyes bleed and at best will make you just... just not care anymore. (Plus, it is bound to scare some children.)
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It's Easter Weekend! Celebrate with a three-part review of a thematically appropriate movie trilogy at The Realm!----
Feederwatch Friday!
Admit it, you're going to miss this.
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 1
American Robin 1
Song Sparrow 2
House Sparrow 11

The Making of the Belgrade Draggin' Masters Snowmobile Club logo!

EDIT: (Because I have no idea what the final post is going to look like from the "preview" option.) Ah, formatting. :/ Click to see the pictures full-sized.
By another one of those extremely happy coincidences, one of the members of the Belgrade Draggin' Masters Snowmobile Club had seen one of the dragons I drew for the 700 Dragons project, liked it, and contacted me to create a new logo for the club. This was a very fun project to work on, and I thoughtfully kept a record of the work in progress.

This is just one of many concept sketches. Both the club and I enjoyed this one the most. I went ahead and brought the sketch into Photoshop to do a line art version.

I wanted to keep the feeling of the original sketch, but make the lines more graphic. The image had to be easy to read, and it had to still be understandable when printed at wildly different sizes. The Club liked this concept, but they wanted a very different style.

And here is the *almost* final version. The Club approved this, but they still wanted a few minor changes (nothing big, just human errors -- Belgrade isn't spelled right here!) This has the honor of being the first piece I (a) produced on my Macbook and (b) drew the line art with a calligraphy Photoshop brush, which is almost a trademark of mine by now.
The final version can currently be seen as the title graphic of the Belgrade Draggin' Masters' website.
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Once again, in lieu of a Sketch of the day, here is some wonderful news: Starting today and going through Sunday night, the MA Horticultural Society's Spring Flower Show is back! This is fantastic as my aunt and I were going through withdrawals last year.
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And dang it, Disney, WTF?

Boston Comic-Con 2009 is this weekend! Also, Humbugs.

Yay yay yay!!!

(NOTE: This post pretty much repeats everything from the previous post about Bo-Com-Con, so here's cuteness. As always, click for big:)



Boston Comic Con - Saturday & Sunday October 24th & 25th. 10am to 5pm both days.
Admission: $10 per person each day. Children under 10 free.
Wear a costume and get in for FREE! Really, you have no excuse not to come in costume.
Where: The Back Bay Events Center, 180 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA
This place is a little hard to get to. It's probably easiest to take the T. Take the Green Line to the Copely Square station. Walk down Boylston Street, past Dartmouth and Clarendon Street, until you hit Berkeley Street. Walk down Berkeley, past St. James Ave., and The BBEC should be the large building on your right.
Alternatively, follow all the people in costume.

I will be at the Comic Artist Guild Table. As this is the weekend before Halloween, I will probably have photos to share later if I can take some discreetly. Come on down and get yourself a promotional postcard!

And it is also time to Thrill The World on Sunday! Go join a pack of dancing zombies near you.

AND, we've started seeing commercials for "A Christmas Carol". We've done enough harping on ugly animation, so I'll ignore that factor for now. I'm more curious about something my cousin and I discussed after seeing the commercial for the third time during the course of one twenty-minute long television program:

COUSIN: "Another movie based on 'A Christmas Carol'?! WTF?"
TRISH: "Yeah, how did this conversation go? 'I'm sorry, Rob, but they've already made A Christmas Carol into a movie.'"
COUSIN: "Ha ha, 'Oh, but what if we made an animated movie?'"
TRISH: "'There are dozens of animated Christmas Carols! And it is practically obligatory for every animated series to do a holiday episode that parodies the story too!'"
COUSIN: "'Aw, man... WAIT! Has anyone ever made a THREE-D CHRISTMAS CAROL MOVIE?'"
TRISH: "OMG you are a genius!!!'"

Addendum: A Bit More Boston Comic-Con Information.

From the official Email I just got. Everything in blue is added by me.

Boston Comic Con - October 24-25th!
Only one more week 'till The Boston Comic Con!!
Saturday & Sunday October 24th & 25th. 10am to 5pm both days. I'll be there both days at the Comic Artists Guild table.
Guest starring: Tim Sale (You may recognize him as the guy who does nearly all the art in "Heroes".), Walt Simonson (just added), Geof Darrow (Best known as one of the concept artists for the "Matrix" trilogy.), Herb Trimpe, Mike McKone, Khoi Pham, Cliff Chiang, Stephane Roux, Eric Canete, Jim Calafiore, & David Mack!
Admission: $10 per person each day. Children under 10 free.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! - Wear a costume and get in for FREE! Weee! I like this because it means you have no excuse to not go dressed as your favorite character (or whatever you come up with at the last minute.)
Where: The Back Bay Events Center, 180 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA This place is a little hard to get to. It's probably easiest to take the T. Take the Green Line to the Copely Square station. Walk down Boylston Street, past Dartmouth and Clarendon Street, until you hit Berkeley Street. Walk down Berkeley, past St. James Ave., and The BBEC should be the large building on your right.
Alternatively, just follow all the people in costume.
The Boston Comic Con is the largest comic book show in New England. Don't miss it! 'Nuff Said.
PS. Bill Sienkiewicz has been rescheduled to the April 2010 Boston Comic Con.

Aww, I was going to bring in that weird Santa Claus book for him to sign. Oh well, maybe next time.
I've been to Bo-Com-Con twice so far and have enjoyed myself each time. Even if you aren't a comic book fan, you'll find something interesting there for you. Just the opportunity to meet artists is enough of a reason to go, and there's a good mix of well-established professionals, people who are just starting out, and everything in between. And for those of you who heard the horror stories from this past year's San Diego Comicon, rest assured that Bo-Com-Con is much less overwhelming in scale, less about hyping the latest big Hollywood summer blockbusters, and more about illustration and meeting artists and having fun. The atmosphere is like a big party, and it is very family-friendly. You know how some communities host Open Farm Weekends so that kids can "learn where their food comes from"? Bring the kids to Comic-Con so they can learn where their favorite characters come from.

Happy Towel Day!

As you're reading this, I am having an excellent excuse to carry my towel around, which I will explain later. It's also why there won't be any other updates this week.

In the meantime, enjoy this fun essay about Tex Avery. And for those wondering what the true meaning of Towel Day is: Ye Olde Wikipedia.

AnimeBoston is this weekend!

More information at their website.

Alternatively, if you're the kind of reader who misses the Feederwatch Friday posts, and you can get WAAAAAAY up to Lubec, Maine, you may enjoy the big Downeast Birding Festival. It also runs throughout Memorial Day weekend.

Of course, if you enjoy birds and animation (if you're me, in other words), you'll want to try and attend both events. Unfortunately, I will not be able to go, but there is an excellent reason for this...

The Maine Comic Arts festival is this weekend

Official website.

This is rather different from the usual comic book convention. There won't be any dealers to browse or publishers to throw your postcards at. It's more of an opportunity to meet professional comic artists and illustrators, local and otherwise, and listen to them discuss the field. If you're in the Portland area, you should go. I probably will be in the Portland area this weekend and... I don't know if I can squeeze it in... (Trust me, this will make more sense later.)

I also have more Pokemon to show you:

Not only do I have to figure out how to draw Rotom in this "realistic" style, I've also added a Gardevoir to my team (very nice if you hate Zubats and Tentacools.)
So... What do you think happened at the end of "Lost"?

Addendum: Regarding the question about Rotom's super-awesome alternate forms below.
You need an item called the Secret Key. Nintendo was nice enough to give this over their wireless service (meaning you didn't have to search in vain for a nearby Toys R Us) using the Mystery Gift option. Unfortunately, it was only available for a limited time. More information can be read about it here. There's still some hope; Nintendo ran the event twice, during different times of the year, after "Platinum" was released in Japan. Perhaps they'll give the North American traders another chance too?

Great Arceus! I almost forgot to mention that tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day!

So visit your local comic book store (I'm not sure if other bookstores are participating) and pick up a new book to read absolutely free. Some stores will also have other special events, so be sure to check their websites. The whole idea behind Free Comic Book Day is to promote literacy, encourage people to shop locally, and support artists and authors. But most importantly: it's about FREE COMIC BOOKS! Who doesn't like free stuff?

You don't like free stuff? You're weird.