October 18, 2003 - 1:39 p.m.
There are some words on this page, but I also wrote a lot more words recently. So if you want to read a lot of words, you can do just that by going here.
That's the comic that I went on and on about in my last entry. You can find a lot of words by clicking on the "annotations" link, wherein I... uh... go on and on about my comic.
I've been toying with the idea of adding little drawings to my diary entries, now that I don't have the comic to keep me drawing. I know it SOUNDS like a really good idea, but whenever I try to draw a little autobiographical doodle about recent events, I'm never happy with how it turns out. That may have to do with me trying to use my Wacom tablet again after months of using exclusively an actual pen on actual paper. And my total frustration with the new brush interface of Photoshop 7 isn't helping either. But it may still happen, who knows.
I'm fascinated by the concept of diary comics, but I can't seem to match my enthusiasm for that concept with actual quality. For instance, the best thing I can come up with to illustrate last night's outing is a series of these little Don Hertzfeldt fluff things, labeled Kevin, Scott, Laurie, Matt and Ely. See, we all went to see The Animation Show, and it was incredible.
The Animation Show is a touring collection of animated shorts that was thrown together by animators Don Hertzfeldt and Mike Judge. Don was actually there, and he mentioned that the show came together largely out of complete frustration at the state of the animated short market these days. I personally love animation, and it always kinda bummed me out that the best option for seeing animated shorts on the big screen was Spike & Mike's Sick And Twisted Festival of Animation. Spike & Mike's is always a sloppy affair, with a lot of crap included seemingly just to justify the "sick and twisted" name that plays mostly to drunk college students.
The Animation Show is a much more coherent experience, with absolutely no lame filler. I loved the trippy space-age Disney short imagining what the lifeforms on Mars look like, and I actually giggled with glee to see the new Don Hertzfeldt toons. It was a well-balanced mix of 2d, CG and clay, with half of the shorts-- probably more, actually-- being foreign. And the funny moments were just that much funnier with an audience to laugh along with you. I was glad I'd already seen "Rejected" about a hundred times because it was hard to hear the dialog over all the laughter. That's the kind of experience you just don't get squinting into a RealPlayer stream by yourself at your computer, which is pretty much the last outlet left for animated shorts. If The Animation Show comes near you, I urge you to support it.
Don stayed at the end for a bit of Q&A, and he seemed genuinely awesome, even though it was obvious he was very tired of answering the same dumb questions every opening night. Why are there still people who think it's unexpected and hilarious to bombard a creative type with his own catchphrases? And there was this one guy whose "question" was really just six paragraph's worth of his own pompous ideas about animation, as though he was sucking up to some nonexistent film studies teacher. He so very clearly wanted everyone in the room to appreciate his brilliant insights that I almost wanted to punch him. If you know me, you know I don't ever want to punch anybody, so that should say a lot about the total awfulness of that guy. But other than that, a totally incredible evening. I had even justified a way to spend some money to buy the "Rejected" DVD and the Animation Show poster, but since we stayed for the whole Q&A, the line at the merchandise table was prohibitively long. I'm glad I saved my cash, mostly because I don't even have any posters up in my room because I like the walls bare, but that is one gorgeous poster.
That night we ended up going to Carrow's, which was weird. I hadn't been there in a long time, and we ended up sitting with Scott's younger sister. It's so funny that there is such a defined age where you go to Carrow's late at night. The conversation was so hilarious that I almost didn't notice that it was way past my bedtime. Ely kept saying "it's Friday night," as if the fact that it was Friday would somehow override my sleep pattern. I'm still trying to go to bed earlier, as part of my program for making sure I go to work every day. It was also very strange relying on Matt for the ride home, since I'm still getting used to the idea that he has his license. How many times in the past did I insist on staying late at Carrow's rather than give Matt a ride home? Probably too many.
I'm sorry this entry isn't more interestingly written; I'm really spaced out and I don't know why. I haven't been feeling as sharp as before lately. It's probably a lack of exercise... ever since Amanda left town, I don't find myself playing DDR. I wonder if I could convince my family that what I really need this Christmas is a metal DDR pad. It could also be my diet... I got tired of the hassle of cooking ramen after work every day, so I've been driving through and getting those ridiculously cheap "taco" things from Jack In The Box, which probably isn't good either.
I just caught myself staring out the window for a good two minutes. Ack, I'd better get myself doing something quick or I'll get even stupider!
