Friday, January 15, 2010

Harry Nilsson

It was a very sad day when we lost the voice (and crazy antics) of Harry Nilsson.


6/15/41 - 1/15/94

A reprint of a post I did in the Spring of '07...

Do You Believe In Ghosts?

As this blog is my witness, yesterday I was writing the text to go with my Harry Nilsson pictures.It was a tough write because there was a lot to say in very little space, but I finished it. And it started me wondering what really happened to that last album he had finished the vocal tracks on just days before he passed away. I thought about trying to get in touch with my friend who I knew Harry through, but then I was thinking, there's really no time to do that. And besides, I was pretty happy with how the text finally came out. Then last night Harry was in one of my dreams but I've been so tired lately, I'm not remembering the details of my dreams when I wake up. But he was definitely present. I know, I know, it's not uncommon to dream about someone when you've just been focused on them for seven hours.

Today I had appointments with both companies that are doing the scans for the book. While I was driving there I got a phone call from one of my movie clients asking something about a previous job I'd done for her. A couple of seconds into the call she said my voice was garbled. We hung up and she called me back. It was still garbled, even though I could hear her perfectly. Then I got another call and the same thing happened. Okay, I need to get my cell phone fixed.

After all my meetings over the hill, I dropped by Sprint - the store near my house where I knew they had while-you-wait repair service. I go in only to find out they closed the repair counter down because there wasn't enough traffic. They gave me a piece of paper with listings of a bunch of repair places and circled the second one of the list. I don't know why they picked the second one when the first one was as close, or closer.

I drove the 3 miles East on Ventura Blvd and pulled into the parking area that was overflowing with cars from from the local gym, thinking I really need to go to my gym. Fortunately, there was a reserved spot open in front of the cell phone repair shop. (Of course there was...I have a parking fairy, but that's another story). I walk in the shop and notice two guys sitting behind the service counter. The guy on the right asks what he can do for me before I even reach the counter. The other guy was online and talking to a guy leaning on the side of the counter. I tell the guy helping me that the mic is not working on my phone. He asks to see it and immediately informs me that he probably doesn't have the part, but he'll look it up.

How am I doing at dragging this story out? Pretty good, eh?

So, while he's tending to that, the other guy turns to me and asks if I know how to spell the name of the restaurant "Pasche." I gave it a shot - P-a-s-c-h-e - but they didn't think that was right and my guy was ready for me with my prognosis so I turned back to him. He said they didn't have the part and couldn't fix my phone. Shit. But the store in Encino could probably fix it since they were a corporate Sprint, whereas these guys were independent and weren't provided with a lot of older (2 years) parts. I then go out to my car to get my list to confirm with him which store it is.

When I come back in the other guy happily reports that they found the restaurant. It's P-a-c-e. "Oh, Pace," I say. Yeah, but it's called Pashay. Does it have an accent on the e, I ask? He shows me on the screen. Yes. And then calls the restaurant. While my guy is calling the other Sprint place to make sure they have the part, I overhear that last part of the other guy making a reservation. I thought he was doing it for the other customer. I wasn't paying much attention until, out of the corner of my ear, I heard him spell N-i-l-s-s-o-n and say it was for four.

I glanced at him and when he hung up the phone I made some smartass comment like, "So, I'm invited to dinner?" as the spelling of the name sunk in. How odd, I thought, as he joked back, "Sure, dinner's at 7:30." Then I mumbled, "You don't happen to know Harry. do you?" "Excuse me?" "Sorry, I just heard you spell Nilsson. Just wondered if you knew Harry."

"I'M HIS SON."

"No shit." As I looked at him a little closer. Of course. He looked a lot like him.

"Yup. Harry Nilsson is my dad."

I immediately went into my "Oh my God, you're not going to believe this but I'm doing a book and your dad is in it..." spiel. I don't think he believed me at first, until I started filling in the details with evidence that I did actually know his dad. And then he had lots of questions, as did I...like "whatever happened to the album he was working on when he died?"

He was as freaked out as I was that I had just been writing about Harry yesterday. We talked about a bunch of stuff and I gave him a postcard on the book. We exchanged information and I told him I'd be in touch so he could see the pictures. And that I'd give his family a print when I got them done and then I left...

...TOTALLY FREAKED OUT.

I mean what are the chances that he'd spell his name on the phone when I happened to be standing there? Hell, what are the chances that Harry Nilsson's son would be behind the counter at a cell phone store I was sent to to get my phone fixed?

Especially since I'd run into the woman who is directing my movie at the scanners earlier in the day. And we had a long talk while she looked at the mock-up of my book. She also had some good news about our movie and we discussed how great things were working out for both of us. I made a comment about how cool it was that things and people were just connecting out of the blue for us and that it was a sign that we were going in the right direction.

So, I'm guessing you think the story is over now, right?

It's not.

I got in my car and as I was leaving the parking lot a song came on the radio.

It was One by Three Dog Night. My all-time favorite Three Dog Night song. They don't play it much on the radio anymore.

Do you know who wrote One?

Harry Nilsson.

And what could be weirder than that?

Someone called my cell phone as soon as I got home. The caller could hear me just fine. Then someone else called. That caller could hear me just fine. And then someone else, and someone else. There's nothing wrong with my phone.

Hi, Harry. Thanks for visiting. Feel free to stop by any time.



If this doesn't put a smile on your face there's something wrong with you...


Thursday, January 14, 2010

Lost

I'm really hesitant to write a post today. It's 2010. I'm supposed to be all optimistic and positive. I'm afraid if I let myself get started I'll erupt like Mt. Etna. As in spew. It's been that kind of year and especially that kind of day.

I won't bore you with all that's not behaved like the 2010 I expected. Just the one teensy weensy little thing that happened today. I was moving things around from my computer and clearing out things that were duplicated. Freeing up space. And switching files between my computer hard drive and two external drives. A word of advice... do not attempt to do these kind of maneuvers when you have a sinus infection/cold. Why didn't I tell myself that before I started.

Somehow I managed to toss a folder the housed all the stills I took on my location trip last May. I was sure there were back-ups but when I went looking for them there was nothing. Disappeared. Into thin air.

I googled data recovery software and found a trial version of one that I could could use to search for the files and make sure they were available before paying to retrieve them. I think I found most of them, although some of them came out like this...



It took a long time. And as I write this, I'm doing another search with different parameters just to be sure I don't miss anything. It's taking forever.

Oh, I also broke a glass when my clumsy arm knocked it over on my desk. It was blind luck that it was empty.

Now if we can just get some blind luck over to Haiti.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Donny Hathaway

The beautiful voice of Donny Hathaway was silenced 31 years ago today.


10/1/45-1/13/79






You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Donny Hathaway and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, .

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Maurice Gibb

Seven years since the sudden passing of Bee Gee Maurice Gibb.

12/22/49-1/12/03

:-(








You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Maurice Gibb and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, .

Monday, January 11, 2010

Yup

It's almost tomorrow. I've been out all day today. The last of the relatives have exited the country. My life will finally get back to normal tomorrow. Well, maybe after a day of recovery so let's say by Wednesday.

Brain is currently fried. Or scrambled. Or maybe just poached. Take your pick. Whichever it is, it's on sourdough.

To quickly finish off yesterday's post, we did not go back to pick up my phone. We got a second car at the airport and divided up the assets. And the liabilities. Some of us ended up at Lucy's El Adobe for dinner at around 8:30pm. One of us flew over the city in a private plane. Another of us flew over the city in a non-private plane. Two of us drank margaritas. The end.

On Sunday I picked up a prepaid phone and had my cell phone number forwarded to the prepaid. I was expecting an important call today. It didn't come. Welcome to L.A. My phone is on a FedEx truck somewhere between there and here. I will get it tomorrow. I don't have any devices here that can record images so here is a picture of my phone...


Thanks a heap, Pumpkin. Nobody would have noticed if you hadn't brought it up.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

What A Long Strange Trip

Made it back to L.A. last night by no small miracle. Family members were dispersing in all directions...a sister and brother-in-law off to Mesa, a son arriving for a quick hello and a ride from me, my brother and his g.f. to L.A., a mother off to Palm Springs airport to catch a plane back to Midland TX via Dallas. Hold on a second. What's the mother doing walking back in the door of the condo at 3:15 when her plane took off at 2?

Uh oh. Watch the original plan instantly blown out of the water. Original plan being son, brother, brother's g.f., moi et le luggage pour into the little green Jeep Liberty and hi-tail it to L.A. Oh, and the Pumpkin.

Now the car is not only loaded with the long-traveling brother and g.f. toting ginormous suitcases and other excess baggage, the son, moi with my shit including 12 large grapefruits I plucked from a neighboring tree, my new pillows, my old pillow and, of course, Pumpkin...but the mother is now stuffed into the fray so she can catch a 1am plane out of LAX. This ridiculous configurations can't last the 125+ mile drive. No way. The plan is a 40-some minute drive from the condo to Palm Springs airport...the only place open where we can snag an additional set of wheels to divide up the load.

It was around 30 minutes into the seemingly long, definitely excruciating ride that I had that sinking feeling. You know the one. The 'I hope I didn't forget anything' one. And I really hope it's not my cell phone that I forgot. I know it's my cell phone. It's really hard to fish through a large leather bag when you're packed like a sardine in a tin can on wheels, minus the oil. After 5 minutes of groping, I'm 99.999 percent sure my cell phone was now 35 minutes in the opposite direction. My suspicions were confirmed when my son's cell phone rang with a call from my cell phone and I wasn't doing the dialing...

...to be continued...or not.

What part of 'to be continued' did you not understand? I'm tired and am going to sleep.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

If There Is A God...

...He was in Palm Desert today at sunset...





Thursday, January 07, 2010

Palm Desert

Some mini-vacation. Day 2, 3:45am I am awakened to loud sloshing water. The dishwasher. I waited and waited. It kept sloshing. figuring someone had gotten up and turned it on, I finally got up and turned the dial to the quieter dry cycle. A half hour later the freakin' dishwater started all over again. WTF?

Things went downhill from there. I already wasn't feeling well. By morning I felt worse. Drank a little fresh grapefruit juice. Ten minutes later I did something I haven't done in a million years. Yup. I hurled. It wasn't pretty. Went back to bed and then thought I should brush my teeth. Lifted my head and looked down at Pumpkin. She was eating my toothbrush.

Later I mustered up the strength to lay on the lawn chair, half on the patio and half on the grass. Hooked Pumpkin's leash to the leg and reclined. Chillin'. Two minutes later, without warning, the sprinklers went off.

I gave up. The rest of the day was spent like this...



Then, at 4:30am this morning, the dishwasher started up again. I am now calling the dishwasher Christine.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Taking The Day Off

I'm in the desert. Good news...my dog is here too. On her usual best behavior. Which is more than I can say from other carbon based units existing in the same breathing space.

That being said, this is pretty much the extent of the post. I need some sleep.

Let me see if I can find a little something to lull us all to sleep.

Monday, January 04, 2010

My Day at the Theme Park

I almost never go to theme parks...unless they have kick-ass coasters. As you know from yesterday's post, I went today.

Since I'm nearly speechless, here is my day in pictures...

The National Lampoon Vacation begins.

The first thing I'm faced with is my own life.

This was a really fun ride.

Gotta see the dinos.

Gotta love no-lines day at the park.

I like this picture.

Nothing like a little flood to keep your day interesting.

Wait...a good plane crash. Even better.

It there's a guitar, I will shoot it.

My most favorite sign. Ever.

Much to my surprise, I had a fun day. And I now have an annual pass so I can go to the park every single day through 12/31/10...for free. If you're looking for me, you'll know where I'll be.

Special thanks to my friend Steve for the great hook-up. My very own Griswold family holds you in the highest esteem.



Sunday, January 03, 2010

Tomorrow

It's the day everybody goes back to work. All refreshed from the time off. Resolutions still rockin'. A brighter outlook on life. Raring to go.

Me?

Nope.

Even though I want to work.

I'm doing something completely different. Something I haven't done in years.

Are you ready for this? (even though I'm not?)

I'm going to a theme park.

For the whole day.

This one:

Frightening.

After that I will be kidnapped and taken to Palm Desert. I will not be released until Saturday.

Mostly, I will miss my dog.

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Got A Minute?

This is the one-minute movie I made called Dream Simple. It was much easier to do than the animation piece I posted in December. And hopefully more professional looking as well. I was able to make it for just over $100, thanks to all the wonderful people who donated their time and equipment. The money went to food and a few props I had to buy. Anyway, I pretty happy with it. Hope you enjoy it...

(make sure it loads before you click the play arrow)


If for some reason you can't view it here, you can see it on my or . If you watch it on , I would love to get some ratings. :) Thanks.

In follow-up to yesterday's resolution post, I'm still on course. I railed on my email inbox last night and today and it's down to 194. Yay!

Friday, January 01, 2010

Happy New Year

Wow. Thankfully, that nasty no-good 2009 has finally been extinguished. I don't know about you, but I had the worst year of my life. Not that it was completely miserable or depressive every single day. It's just the bottom line that is swayed heavily in the negative column. Financial distress being at the top of the "Fuck 2009" list. It would be nice if everything Everybody I shot Is Dead was enough to support me but, alas, I still rely on my graphics company. I still have the same clientele I've had in successful years past but with the recession my clientele have cut their expenses, leaving me with about 25% of what I did last year and the year before that and the year before that. And getting new clients was next to impossible. It's been tough times for artist types. Personally, I'm just blaming the whole fiasco on the year itself -- 2009. Because, as of today, everything feels different. Yes, I am aware there's absolutely no rhyme or reason to my (non)rationale.

If it's not 2009 that deserves the blame, I have another explanation. Time Warner. Not sure if I mentioned it here but I did rag them on Facebook and Twitter. (If you're not my Facebook friend or you're not following me on Twitter, you should - click the links to the right to rectify) Anyway, back to the evil empire know as Time Warner. I had them at my last place and they mostly annoyed me but there didn't seem to be another choice. When I got them at my new place last August the extreme torment began. Intermittent pixelation of my TV picture. Or complete drop-off. Horrible, horrible internet service. Complete interruption of internet off and on and then that escalated to the point I had them come out. They changed my modem. After that I only lost service on an average of ten times a day. It was fixable by unplugging and replugging in the modem to reset it. But it really like to make me crazy by cutting out when I was uploading a large file for a client. Seriously, I was tearing my hair out.

On December 30th the U-Verse guy came out to give me new service. I was a little concerned at first because the guy couldn't figure out my phone line wiring. It took him over five hours to do what I thought was a simple installation. But he is now completely forgiven because the fog has lifted. The internet has worked perfectly. The TV has worked perfectly. It's a far more advanced and easy to use system than the TW one. I no longer need my Apple airport...the wireless comes right off there box. The DVR can record 4 shows at a time (like there are ever 4 shows on TV at the same time worth recording) and the remote and workflow is way more logical than the TW one. Since I made my goodbye phone call to TW on the evening of Dec 30th everything looks brighter. I'm wondering if they were somehow controlling me through their signal. Watching me. Fucking up my life. No matter now. They are gone. And my supportive U-Verse big brother is taking care of me.

Alright, on to the New Year. As I recall, I only made one resolution last year. Yup, I just went back in time and found it:

I'm not real big on New Year's resolutions. I think they set you up for failure. But I am going to make one. Just one. Seemingly simple. New Year's resolution.

I'm going to post something on this blog every single day in 2009.


Why would I make that my one resolution? Because I figure if I post every day, everything else will stay the course. And let's see...how about with each blog entry I commit to posting a photograph. I think. Maybe. Or. Hmmm. Damn those swirling ideas with no brain to sort them out.

Anyway, if you don't see a new post you'll know I'm dead.

This should be fun.

And, surprise, surprise...I DID IT!!! I posted every single day and I believe I put some illustrative in every single post. Except maybe when the internet wasn't working and I had to post from my phone.

There were times when I didn't want to post. Times I had nothing to say. Times where it was like pulling my teeth out. But for the most part it was very satisfying. Setting out to do something every day of the year takes a lot of focus and even more discipline. But the accomplish gives me the feeling that I can do anything I set my mind to. It's the same feeling I got when I walked on fire and didn't burn my feet...only in this case it went on for a whole year.

What did I learn? Resolutions are a good thing. And I should have made more resolutions. Just think of all the things I could have accomplished. I also learned that a public resolution beats out the one you make to yourself. It's a lot harder to break a resolution you make publicly. It's easy to sneak a cookie when you've vowed to diet. But it you put it out to the public that you want to take off 20 you might think a little harder before stuffing a pound of butter in your pie hole.

I have multiple resolutions this year. All designed to make my life more organized. Which in turn will make me happier and help me attain greater success. Some of these resolutions were put into practice six or seven days ago.

Here are some of them off the top of my head:

1) I will not go to bed without my kitchen being clean. I'm 4 days in on this one and I believe it is changing my life. It may seem like a small thing but not having to pull a cup and teaspoon out of the sink when I make my morning coffee changes my day.

2) Do yoga every day. I'm 6 days in on this one and am hoping by going public with it I will continue for the rest of the year. This is definitely life changing. I've been doing yoga off and on since I moved to LA many moons ago. When I do it on a daily basis I feel so much better. I'm not stiff in the morning. Minor ailments disappear. It really is a form of preventative medicine.

3) Post on my blog every day. I wasn't going to do this one again...but why not? I'm almost one day in on this and since I'm already in the habit it shouldn't be too difficult. However, if I do miss a day here or there I will not consider myself a failure.

Now to the harder stuff...the things I haven't started yet...or maybe I should say the things I am starting today but still have to catch up on from past digressions:

4) Better communication - Answer emails and phone calls on the day I get them, or at least within 24 hours. I currently have 499 emails in my inbox that need my attention. Of those, 175 haven't even been opened. How appalling is that? Lots of them are ones that I have kept because I want to check them out...and will most likely not need a response. But there are a lot that I really want to respond to but supposedly haven't had the time. For example, one of my favorite people in the world (who I believe is still reading my blog) sent me a birthday greeting in November with lots of news from her end and I have not written back. I AM BAD. I also got an email in September from a guy I used to hang with in high school that I haven't responded to. Not because I don't want to or don't plan to...it's more of wanting to be in a certain frame of mind. But that's not how it's going to be this year. I am going to have my inbox emptied by next weekend. Oops, that's 71.3 emails a day to file, delete or answer. Not counting any new ones. OK, I can do it. I expect this resolution will also change my life.

5) Keep on top of my finances. I'm figuring a half an hour a day would be enough time to enter receipts and bank transactions in Quickbooks and ultimately be less time than letting it pile up and doing it all at once. I can't tell you the number of times I've looked at my bank statements or credit cards and couldn't remember what the charges were for.

6) Keep on top of my filing. This is a tough one but if I think I can do it within the half hour I've allotted to #5 and ultimately save tons of time I could put to more self-satisfying tasks. This will likely require a whole new filing system but I think I have a way to make the transition relatively painless.

So, that's it. I'm pretty sure everything I'm resolving to do is a solution, not a burden. All are good habits that will potentially free up a shitload of time for me to actually have a life. I will let you know how it's all going from time to time.

In the meantime, what are you putting into practice this year that will bring you happiness and improve your life?

Thursday, December 31, 2009

John Denver and Rick Nelson

Today is John Denver's 66th birthday...

12/31/43-10/12/97

And 24 years since we lost Rick Nelson...

5/8/40-12/31/85

Two deals today for A Deal A Day In December.

An Open Edition 11x14 signed print of John Denver for $60 (regular price $200).

A Limited Edition 16x20 numbered and signed framed print of Rick Nelson for $300 (regular price $600).

Shipping is extra.

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 30 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Here's hoping there's sunshine in all our lives every day in 2010...



Everybody's gotta believe...





You can see lots more pictures and learn more about John Denver, Rick Nelson and the 46 other musicians in my tribute book, .

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

John Hartford

Today is John Hartford's 72nd birthday.


12/30/1937-6/4/01

Today's deal is either one of the John Hartford photographs above. I'm partial to the multiple exposure, although it's hard to figure out with the giant circle c in the middle of it.

Open Edition 11x14 signed silver gelatin print.

Retail value: $200.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $60
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 30 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.


I love me some John Hartford banjo...






You can see lots more pictures and learn more about John Hartford and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, .

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Maureen Starkey

As of tomorrow, it's 15 years since Maureen Starkey Tigrett lost her battle with leukemia. Even though she led a crazy life as a Beatle wife, Maureen was also a really great mom. And not just to her own children. She was also a great mom to a lot of wandering kids of all ages. Me included on a few occasions.
8/4/46-12/30/94

I haven't really marketed any of my pictures of Maureen but this four panel print was one that I had in my opening show. As I near the end of the A Deal A Day In December I am offering this photograph as an Open Edition 11x14 signed silver gelatin print.

Retail value: $200.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $60
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 29 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

There is no limit on the number of people that can order this print. If you want it at the $60 price please order it by January 1st.


I posted these two videos a few months ago but they're pretty cool so I'm showing them again.





And please take a moment to remember Maureen.







Maureen Starkey is one of the people I dedicated to with several more photos of her.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Dennis Wilson

Dennis Wilson drowned 26 years ago today. :-(

Loved him and miss him.

12/4/44 - 12/28/83

No one grabbed this print of Dennis last time, so I'm giving it one more shot before I hang it on my wall.

This is a framed 11x14 Signed Open Edition print that retails for $350.00.

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $125 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 28 Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Some good clips of him in his live version of You've Got To Hide Your Love Away...



Despite his problems, he was an amazingly beautiful man.


You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Dennis Wilson and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, .

Sunday, December 27, 2009

A Deal A Day In December - Day 27

The New Year is around the corner. That got me thinking that we're all supposed to review the year gone by and be grateful for what we have. For me, this task is just that. A task. To be honest, my year was less than stellar. But more about that later. I do, however, have this limited edition framed Grateful Dead print that I expect someone would be grateful to own. I dropped my usual deal in December LE price another $50...just to show my gratitude.



Limited Edition numbered and signed
16x20 framed silver gelatin print.

Retail value: $600.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price:
$300
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 27 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Since many of you are traveling, I hope you'll enjoy a little live Truckin'...

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Thinking of the Beach (Boys)

Some of you may remember I was taking a Photoshop for Film and Video class this Fall. I think I posted my 30-layer piece that I did in the first couple of weeks of the class. After that things got into uncharted Photoshop territory for me. Animation and 3D. AKA frustration. It was a bit of a learning curve and annoying because I don't think Photoshop is particularly built for anything more than simplistic animation. For example, as soon as I added a 3D object to my last project, the program pretty much slowed down to reverse.

Our final project had to be at least 40 seconds long and required a 3D object and a story. Once we put all the animation together we had to export the piece and then put it in Final Cut to add sound. It was taking so long to render I didn't watch the total piece in Photoshop. There was no time. I had only two hours left to finish it up and get to my final class and to hand it in. I hit the export and watched the progress bar barely move. It still wasn't done by the time I had to leave so I had to keep my computer open all the way there. I was half-way through my final exam when the damn thing finally finished.

Once I was done with the exam I threw it into Final Cut to add the music and sound. My heart sank. My 3D object had disappeared from half its scenes. Fuck me. The professor was nice enough to let me finish it up and hand it in via email. I figured out I needed to do it in sections so I could see if the 3D object was working properly and then edit the whole thing in Final Cut. What could that take? A couple of hours. Nope. More like 20 hours. Ugh. Kill me now. But I finally got it done and sent it off. Here's the final project...there's still more I could do with it but I got burned out...hopefully, you'll like it as is...

(oops...make sure it loads before you click the play arrow)


What did I learn? Animation is hard.

Today's deal is your choice of any Beach Boys Open Edition print...

11x14 Signed Open Edition

Retail value: $200.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $65
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

The first person to respond can take advantage of this deal. Only one photo per order.

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 26 Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Santa Day

Today's deal...a FREE signed book...be the first to email and it's yours...


Everybody I Shot Is Dead
Signed Book

Regular Price: $40

Deal a Day in December Day 25 Price: $0
+ shipping (free if you're in Los Angeles)

email: info@cheshercat.com

Please include "Day 25 Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.