The Midnight Mailman Show

2011-12-17T12:47:00.000-05:00

The Annual Educators Field Day is something Mr. Happy Puppet Head brings me to every year. It's supposed to bring teachers and community educator-types together, and it’s always a bunch of real-type of people, with cars and polo shirts and families. None of them wear eye-masks or capes every day all the time. None of them can float and are puppets.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I have been writing/compiling a Midnight Mailman Show Book. So that's what this particular long absence has been about. That's a work-in-progress drawing, but it probably won't be much different than that. Also it's a lot longer than that one paragraph.

The Olds

2011-08-03T23:29:00.000-04:00

A very old couple is so old that one of their hands is always holding one of the other’s hands. Their fingers are like two vines that have grown into each other and can’t be pulled apart.

The very old couple never talk to each other anymore. They sit and they look at the world around them, completely happy in that way that is true.

A sketchbook sits on their shared lap and with their free hands they draw, inky black pens swirling thick lines, hands working in perfect unison, slowly and easily finishing shapes for each other like sentences, scratching depth and space with each stroke.

They live in Future Times, but they can still see the future, and they draw it. If you want to know what the next big thing will be, they can draw you a picture of it. The next big thing is Hats that are actually shoes. It makes sense in the Future Times.

Their names are Boblin and Marlin The Olds. They live in a tree that does not have a tree house in it. They sleep on branches and snore like loud crickets. They only eat oatmeal, but in great big buckets. They don’t like crossword puzzles since they’ve become so violent. In the Future Times nobody likes to dance, not since it got so violent. Murder is allowed, but only while dancing or doing the crossword.

Oh, and they can turn into Elephants, not because they are magic, but because they had that operation you can get in the Future Times that lets you turn into an elephant. It comes in super handy. It’s the only way to stampede with any real accuracy. Also, the buttons in the Future Times are really big and elephant feet are the best way to push enormous buttons.

Boblin’s favorite drink is dessert, while Marlins favorite dessert is to drink. Boblin likes flavors, while Marlin likes different flavors.

Everyone gets along in Future Times, which is why there isn’t a whole lot of dancing anymore. And the crossword puzzles pile up un-solved.

Boblin isn’t getting any younger, but it does seem that Marlin might start to. You just never know.

The Big Scary Monster in: "Great... The Elephant's Asleep"

2011-05-18T00:38:00.000-04:00

Cat Surfing!

2011-04-07T00:44:00.000-04:00

We want to go on a beach vacation, but we also want to bring our grumpy cat. I will print this comic and put it all over the house at her eye level so that she can get used to the idea.

Every Day All The Time With Me

2011-04-05T23:25:00.000-04:00

Chainsaw Face

2011-03-20T02:00:00.000-04:00

Alternate punch-lines include "At least we kept the receipt," "...and with only one day until retirement..." and "Good thing my name is already Chainsaw Face."

My Brother and I Built a Trap for Leprechauns

2011-03-17T00:58:00.002-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Monty's Soup and Sandwich Drive-Through Buffet, ALTERNATE ENDING!

2011-03-16T23:53:00.001-04:00

Mollie says this ending would be funnier, and so it is.

Monty's Soup and Sandwich Drive-Through Buffet

2011-03-16T01:35:00.000-04:00

My wife and I wrote a comic together! She's the best ever!

How To Draw a Frog in a Pond

2011-03-08T00:09:00.000-05:00

I discovered that a number of people where brought to this site by Google-searching "How To Draw a Frog in a Pond." While I previously posted a drawing of a frog in a pond, nowhere on this site – until now – had an actual explanation of how it such a thing is done. I only hope that this satisfies.

The Adventures of Moustache Kitty, Part 4

2011-03-06T22:14:00.000-05:00

It's a great collaboration we have, me and cousin Tyler. He's always super excited to work with me, he always has tons of great ideas, and he tells me what to draw and the words to write. Easy and super fun.

Life Drawings

2011-03-03T00:31:00.003-05:00

Last week at the ASIFA Life Drawing Session.

2011-02-26T10:13:00.001-05:00

As a moustached cat in a boat, how would you define hair?

2011-02-23T22:38:00.000-05:00

The adventures continue.

2011-02-21T09:29:00.000-05:00

I drew this comic with my cousin-in-law Tyler, who's 8 years old. He is hilarious and never seems to run out of ideas for comics.

We drew many more panels of this story. I'll post more soon.

2011-02-04T00:21:00.001-05:00

2011-01-29T20:10:00.001-05:00

2011-01-16T21:46:00.006-05:00

2011-01-11T16:41:00.000-05:00

2010-12-29T02:09:00.000-05:00

This is a drawing of my cats-in-law, done as a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law, Twilla.

2010-12-18T19:12:00.001-05:00

BIG SCARY MONSTER SCRIPTING PROCESS

I've been working really hard to storyboard this project out. Will Sanders and I have been writing this thing for months and months now, it's been difficult being on different sides of the world (he's in Indonesia teaching English), but it's also been a lot of fun. Both a good excuse to set aside blocks of time to talk on Skype with him, and for why it's taking so long. But between both of us working full time, we've almost got a nice short little script put together. This one is going to be titled, "Flying House."

Brief rough synopsis: While babysitting, The Big Scary Monster throws one child's 900-page manuscript onto the roof of their house. To retrieve it, he grows super giant and puts the kids onto the roof, then proceeds to fly it around like an airplane with them on top.

So here is a rough thumbnail of the part with the house flying around, and a more finished storyboard panel.

After getting a copy of the all-words rough script Will Sanders put together, I drew a whole lot of tiny very sketchy little drawings like that first one. I was able to see what worked and what didn't from the written words on the script, and came up with new ideas and jokes. A lot of the jokes that were mostly verbal I found could be done better with little to no dialogue, which is how I hoped it would be.

I put a rough boards script together, e-mailed it off to Indonesia where we talked some more about it. I then spent about two weeks drawing these bigger, more polished boards (in Photoshop w/ my wacom tablet, using only 3 shades of grey and yellow for the monster). I just talked to Will Sanders Thursday night and we came up with fun new ideas, ways to cut it shorter and make it better. So now I'm waiting for his revised draft of the script so I can re-work the boards.

2010-12-17T00:15:00.001-05:00

BIG SCARY MONSTER CARTOON PRODUCTION ART

I'm working on a Big Scary Monster Cartoon. This short deals with a job he takes babysitting some neighborhood children, Pickles and Bell.

Below is a rough sketch I did of the trio, and my first pass at a 3D rendering.

When I was in LA, the lead designer for Adventure Time, Phil Rynda, said he thought I did a good job with those 3D characters. So that's exciting and positive. His work is some of my favorite.

I have been working with my good friend Will Sanders, currently living in Indonesia, to write this thing. We are almost done with our second draft of the boards. Once we get those down we'll start working on the VO track, and figure out how to animate this thing.

I've never done a for real 3D character animation. Learning new things.

Also been working to revamp this site. New title banner at the top, not so sure about it, except I like that it's new. I plan on writing new stories and organizing them in a nice way. Like chapters somehow. Probably re-editing some of my old favorites and drawing new pictures.

2010-11-18T00:41:00.001-05:00

Here is a collection of movies I made.

How To Date a Tall Woman If You Are a Short Man on Howcast

Happy and Strickly in "Fuzzy Business" from bark-bark on Vimeo.

The above movie I co-directed with Layne Braunstein.

Everyone I Know is on an Airplane from Robert Paraguassu on Vimeo.

I'll be going to the CTN Animation eXpo this weekend. I'm posting this in lieu of any sort of actual demo reel, or something impressively slick.

2010-11-07T23:58:00.000-05:00

.

I made this for the greyscalegorilla.com "5 Second Project." The theme is Nightmare. I designed and animated it in Cinema 4D, did the post in After Effect, and Aaron Barnes did the sound design.

2010-10-04T00:09:00.000-04:00

I'm hanging out with Mr. Happy Puppet Head, drinking my coffee, he's smoking a cigar.

"The cool thing about Batman," I say, "is you can leave him just about anywhere and you know he'll be okay."

"Yeah?" Mr. Happy Puppet Head puffs on his cigar, smoke clouding around his fuzzy floating head.

"Yeah. This one time me and Batman were fighting all these badguys when this girl calls me. So I was like, 'Hey Batman, I gotta go,' and he was fighting tons of these badguys guys. It was like, it's Batman, you know. He'll be fine. So I bailed to go hang out with this girl, and she never even showed up."

"You're hanging out with Batman now?"

"Yeah, like twice. He's cool."

"I want to meet Batman."

"Aw, sorry, man. You had class or something that night. It was a while ago. Anyways another cool thing about Batman is he always pays the tab. He's like rich. He's always got tons of hundreds on him. I bet he's actually Bruce Wayne or something. That'd be hilarious."

"Yeah, or like... Steve Martin. Bill Murray!"

"Bill Murray is totally Batman. I love that guy." I take a deep gulp of my coffee, the steam fogging up my goggles. Hazelnut flavored creamer is good.

Mr. Happy Puppet head re-lights his cigar, thoughtfully chewing the soggy nub. "My dad called me today. We talked for a little while. Mostly we talked about my brother. He's still doing the monster-who- steals-children thing. My dad thinks it's a waste of time haunting the woods behind the house, and that he doesn't make any money. That he should just move back into the house and focus on mowing the lawn."

He looks off into the distance.

"Do you think he's scary?"

I nod my head. "Yeah. I had a nightmare about him once where he was chasing me and he rolled me up in his giant tongue. And I was stuck his horrible giant tongue. And he said, 'Relax. Quit being a dump.'"

Mr. Happy Puppet Head's brother's name is Chad. The brothers look almost identical, both furry red floating puppet heads, but Chad has an enormous tongue that dangles from his face like a huge chunk of floppy, spitty meat.

"Cool," Mr. Happy Puppet Head nods. "I'll tell him you said that. He'll like to hear that."

"I think another cool thing about Batman is that he's really reliable. He's a really good friend."

"Huh."

2010-07-03T17:20:00.000-04:00

A few people have asked me to design a tattoo for our friend Nate who died last year. He was The Big Scary Monster, and he played bass. So I drew this, the Monster playing Nate's bass.

I don't have any tattoos, but I plan on getting one for Nate. Possibly this one. I think I'm going to keep designing and thinking about it.

2010-03-29T19:52:00.002-04:00

Two more works in progress for "Badass Vampire Tornado." HOVER OVER IMAGE TO TOGGLE.

I'm thinking now of what I am going to do with this comic that I am working on. Possibly I will print all of the panels out big and hang them up in an art gallery and have a live band play the soundtrack. Then it'll be a live walk-through comic book experience. That could be fun. And I'd like to print it out into a book, too.

On another note, today is my birthday. Here is a comic I hastily drew on that subject.

Thanks to everyone I know for being so great. Friends, family, coworkers, Mollie-my-Forever, you are all so great.

2010-03-09T23:59:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple more stills (hover over to toggle between the two) from the comic I'm working on.

I'd like to talk about my process in making this, but I'm not really sure where to start. I draw it mostly in photoshop using a wacom tablet, everything except for some thumbnail sketches to outline the scenes. I'm getting much better at using it, but it still isn't as easy as a real pencil, at least as far as making lines go. But it's so easy to erase, which I do a lot of.

2010-02-27T22:15:00.005-05:00

These are two work-in-progress frames from the comic book I'm working on, "BADASS VAMPIRE TORNADO."

(rollover the image w/ your mouse to toggle between the two)

The Monster and Andre follow a vampire riding a tornado through their neighborhood, finding their way into his haunted castle.

And there are hotdogs.

2009-12-27T18:02:00.000-05:00

New Howcast video I directed/animated at BARK-BARK.

How To Date a Tall Woman If You Are a Short Man on Howcast

2009-10-29T19:06:00.003-04:00

This is a poster I made for my little brother's band. They're great. Go see them if you can.

2009-10-29T00:53:00.003-04:00

Here are some more stills from my autobiographical work in progress.

This one is from the scene where my dad calls, but I don't want to talk to him. In the background you can see my mom's office from the drawing I posted earlier.

The following picture is a scan from one of my sketchbooks, where the above image was expounded upon.

I think there is something really nice about the basic black and white line drawing, just the three elements of story and character, super minimalist. It's hard for me to move away from that. But I'm also having a really good time making these backgrounds, and playing with color schemes, depth, and researching what kind of stuff we had when I was a kid. I vaguely remember a phone like this, but I think it might have been a rotary.

I've never done a project like this before, where I actually just talk about my personal history rather than masking it with monsters or complete caricature. It's extremely difficult, but so far really rewarding.

2009-10-25T13:53:00.002-04:00

Here's an image from one of the projects I'm working on. It's an autobiographical piece focusing on when I was a kid and my parents were getting divorced. This is my mom in her office in our apartment on Thompson Ave in Glendale, CA. I used to love that green-screen mac she had. I would draw pictures in the paint program and write stories.

I'd been drawing storyboards for this project, but then Nate died and now I'm really determined to make a Big Scary Monster Halloween animated special. Something I've been thinking about for a year now. I've got a lot of ideas, and the plan right now is to make a 2 minute trailer. That way I can experiment with styles, the overall look, animation methods, etc.

I've been jumping from project to project for a while now, trying to figure out what I really want to do. But I think these two projects are it. And somehow a sketch comedy thing with some friends. And a full time job, and buying a house, and getting married.

Someday I'll finish a cartoon.

2009-10-23T13:38:00.001-04:00

I've been posing here lately:

www.remembernate.blogspot.com

a memorial blog for my friend Nate.

2009-10-16T00:40:00.002-04:00

The Big Scary Monster in: "Behind the Scenes"

There are some really nice moments in here. I like when he tells the story about the girl in the bathroom, and when they dance for a long time.

www.remembernate.blogspot.com

2009-10-10T20:38:00.001-04:00

Presented here are two of The Big Scary Monster Movies: "Making Friends" and "Lemonade Stand" starting off with a trailer to "Making Friends."

These movies star Nate Niec as The Big Scary Monster, who passed away Oct 6, 2009.

I laugh every time I watch these movies -- Andre and Nate's performances together always make me happy. I am so glad to have this testament to how hilarious and good-natured Nate was. These films highlight his acute sense of the absurdly inapropriate, improvising most of the gags himself.

In his life, Nate was a thoughtful person with a sharp wit and a deep intelligence. He was the best kind of friend and the best kind of person. He will be missed tremendously.

Also Starring my little brother Andre Paraguassu, filmmaker Alex Orr, music by Sirius Bee, camerawork by Josh Fritz and Marvin Evangelista, and costuming by Mary Claire.

2009-10-09T03:00:00.003-04:00

The (REALLY) Important Briefcase

Robert and Nate are in a room. There is a briefcase.

“Nate, I need you to take care of this briefcase. do not give it to anyone. do not let anyone take it, except for me.”

“what’s in it?”

“i can’t tell you.”

“why not?”

“because you have to trust me that it’s really important that no one takes it from you. no one. do you still have those guns?”

“wait. who’s going to want this case?”

“I don’t know yet. But someone will want that case. And I trust you, and only you, with it. I would take it with me, but I can’t. I need you to hold on to it until I call and tell you where to bring it.”

“i’ve got work in an hour.”

“don’t go. don’t call in sick. do not use your phone. i’ll text you. wait for that text, don’t do anything else.”

“what is this? are you fucking with me?”

“this is real, this is important, and I can’t tell you what it’s about.”

“if you’re fucking with me...”

“no one can have it except you or me. you can’t trust anyone. what’s in this briefcase is too important. you just have to trust me. and wait for my text.”

“when are you going to text me?”

“soon. few hours.”

long pause.

“okay. i got this. on a scale from one to protected, this briefcase is protected.”

“thanks, nate. i always said that if i ever had a really, really important briefcase and I needed someone to trust it with to protect, it’d be you.”

“Aw, thanks.”

“I’ll text you.”

“Cool man. Look forward to it.”

“Lock your doors. Don’t answer if anyone knocks.”

“Really important briefcase. Text. Got it.

Robert exits the room. Nate tries to open the briefcase, but it is locked. sits down on the couch and watches tv.

There is a knock on the door.

Nate looks at the door, thinks a moment, before getting up to answer it. He leaves the briefcase on the couch.

A woman is at the door. Somewhere in her early forties. “Hey,” she says peering past Nate, looking around his house. “I hear you have a briefcase. Can I have it?” She tries pushing past him, but he grabs her and easily places her back on his front stoop.

“Excuse me? Get the fuck out of my house.”

“I’ll pay cash. $50 right now. Please. Just give it to me.” She tries pushing past him again, and Nate shoves her back outside and slams the door.

A man is pressing his face against the sliding glass door looking into the living room. He shouts to someone, “I see it! It’s on the couch!” A trashcan smashes through is front window, shattering glass across the carpet. “Get it! Get the briefcase!”

“Oh shit!” Nate grabs the briefcase and runs to the garage. He jumps into his shiny blue mustang and hits the ignition, the engine roars to life. Taking a deep breath, Nate hits the garage door button. As it opens, he sees that his short driveway is filled with people, shouting and pointing people. Their crazy wide eyes flash in the headlamps, cheekbones sharp, their shouting loud and insistent. His neighbors, their children, dogs growling at him.

A knock at his window. His roommate Sarah. Nate rolls it down halfway. “This is insane! Get in the car!”

Sarah lunges as far as she can through the open window. She screams “Give it to me! AAAHHHHH! Briefcase!”

Nate tries grabbing her wrists, wrestling with her. She has the advantage of a superior angle and crazy flapping arms, screaming in his face. He would have never gotten her out, but the woman from the front door pulls Sarah away, “The Briefcase is mine!” Nate manages to roll the window up before anyone else can lunge in.

Nate’s phone beeps, the screen lights up. A text message: “carrousel.”

His big black boots jam down the chrome clutch, shifts to first, slams the gas. The engine howls, tires screech, drowning out the neighbors as they fly in all different directions.

Nate knows exactly where to go.

* * *

* * *

My friend Nate Niec died on Tuesday. He was the biggest Action Star I ever knew, and I wanted to make a movie he could star in where he could be the cool tough amazing gentle trustworthy guy he is. I've been writing him as the Big Scary Monster for a long time now, but I needed to see his face, write his name, try to capture the way he would say things. I want to see him save the day the way I always imagined he would.

I'm having an impossible time imagining the future without him, I keep thinking of funny things to text him, or making plans to play some music again, convince Bradley to playing a reunion show, a 10 year anniversary. I'm sure it would have happened, even though it might have been the 11th anniversary by then. I want to show him the DVD I'm working on, of concerts we played, movies we made.

I just want so badly for him not to be gone. I want to hang out with him again, talk to him about motorcycles or how good something is. He was always good at talking about why stuff was really good.

Nate was the guy I was always going to be friends with, always going to like being around. A man with dignity and strength, always knew the right thing to say or to do. He was often embarassed by how tactless I could be, how clumsy and unaware. You never wondered if he would be there for you, because he would. We would both survive until we were old, and we'd tell each other funny stories and talk about the fun stuff we did. About how it all worked out well in the end, despite our worrying.

Goodbye Nate. I do hope to see you at the carousel.

2009-09-22T13:37:00.003-04:00

BARK-BARK's first Howcast video is up.

How To Save Money By Eliminating 10 Things You Don't Need on Howcast

Working with Howcast has been fun, because we get to experiment w/ different kinds of animation styles, learn new things, etc.

2009-08-23T19:33:00.006-04:00

"Johnny and Little Brown Bear"

A Bedtime story by Selma E. Kuklinsky (my grandma)

As spring approached & the neighborhood resounded with the happy sounds of children at play, there was one three-year old boy that wandered from his own backyard & into the surrounding tree area in back of his home.

Everyone in town spread out to different sections of the forest to locate the boy. Johnny stood in his backyard, looking out at the forest spread out in front of him wondering how far the small boy had wandered. All of a sudden Little Brown Bear came from out of the trees, moving towards him with a tiny sneaker in his mouth.

"Howdy Little Brown Bear," said Johnny. "What's that you got in your mouth?"

Little Brown Bear turned to face the woods. Johnny understood he was to follow the Bear, though his parents asked him not to go outside the yard for any reason.

It took a lot of tramping over hills with plenty of shrubs & trees until Little Brown Bear dropped the sneaker in front of a dark opening in the ground. Little Brown Bear hunched down & shimmied into the opening. Johnny paused before following.

There was Jordan fast asleep on a bed of soft forest leaves, snug as a bug in a rug.

Johnny gently woke the small boy. Jordan's eyes opened wide as he said, “Gee, what a swell time I’ve been having! Little Brown Bear kept me warm up against his heavy fur coat all night & this morning he brought blackberries for my breakfast. He’s my best friend but I miss my parents.”

Little Brown Bear led them safely out of the woods & when Mountain Brown & all the others heard of how the Little Brown Bear cared all night to keep Jordan safe & warm--even feeding him a bear’s type of breakfast-- they no longer had it in their hearts to want to shoot at him.

Little Brown Bear started to turn into one heap happy roly-poly bear because choice tidbits were left for him nightly by everyone in town.

And our hero Johnny made sure that they were always spread with Little Brown Bear's favorite sweetener, honey drippings over everything.

The End.

2009-07-11T02:20:00.004-04:00

I just found this online, a movie I made when i was a freshman in college, back in 2001. I still love the music by Bradley Bailey, my friend who also did the Mr. Children-for-Hands and Bearplane scores.

there are definitely parts i have to skip over. but this was almost ten years ago, my first and only movie shot on film, black and white, the only movie i made through a class (audited a masters class, so I didn't even get credit). i had just discovered the concept of auditions, and held them extensively. People came scrambling to be in my little student film, it was amazing. one of the scientists from that scientist scene drove all the way from tennessee without knowing what it was about. and i paid no one. i had absolutely no idea what i was doing. and none of the dialogue was scripted. i only wrote the narration, which i ultimately cut.

the amount of effort i put into this thing amazes me now. i still work hard, but there's no enthusiasm like an 18 year old me. i even convinced Arby's, Subway, Papa Johns, and Einstein's bagels to donate craft service.

and now it makes me sad to see my friend Anna Gallaspy tied up with a noose around her neck, when for some reason it didn't bother me at all back then. i just thought i was so brilliant.

2009-07-08T19:58:00.002-04:00

This is the first two pages of a comic I'm working on. It's part of a longer story that I hope to finish soon. I'm having to stay late at work to get them colored, and stay up all night drawing them at home. One day I'll be so good at this, so stay tuned.

When my Mom and Dad met in 1981

2009-07-02T00:27:00.001-04:00

My Mom was a reporter for the LA Times Newspaper. She wrote a column
about the cool shows and events that were going on in town. She saw a
band my Dad was in, "The Boys from Brasil." He played the Pandero, a
Brazilian type of tambourine.

Kitty Wrestling

2009-06-27T00:46:00.002-04:00

2009-06-27T00:22:00.000-04:00

2009-06-13T11:58:00.002-04:00

Here is the "Monster on Vacation" series I did for the Aurora Coffee art show. I took photographs from my recent travels to Arizona, California, and Hawaii and drew a monster in them. I printed them 22"X12" on 1/2" foam board. They turned out pretty good. I'm selling them for $50 each, so if you're in the ATL area this month you can stop by Aurora Cofee in Virginia Highlands and pick one up.

I already sold this first one.

This one is the beach where they shoot "Lost." This was very exciting. Nearby is where they shoot the survivor's camp and Mr. Ecco's church is still there.

2009-05-30T17:44:00.002-04:00

My little brother Andre is curating an art show. The last one he put together was really good, and this time a series I'm working on will be on display, "Monster on Vacation."

The piece above is titled "Superstition Mountain, Arizona." You can buy your very own copy of it at the show without all the words on.

2009-03-19T13:49:00.001-04:00

NEW MR. CHILDREN-FOR HANDS

2009-03-11T11:51:00.004-04:00

IT IS SAID THAT WHEN RENDERING FROM AFTER EFFECTS YOU SHOULD INITIATE CAPS LOCK TO MAKE THE RENDER GO FASTER. I HAVE NINE MINUTES LEFT OF RENDERING BEFORE I CAN NO LONGER WRITE ON MY BLOG.

HERE IS MY IDEA:

A SHOW ABOUT TWO BILLIONAIRE TYCOONS WHO OWN A YACHT. BUT THIS IS NO ORDINARY YACHT, IT'S A TIME-TRAVELING HOVER YACHT THAT TALKS IN A SASSY VOICE. AND THE GOVERNMENT HAS ASSIGNED ONE OF IT'S BEST (AND HOTTEST) AGENTS TO WORK UNDERCOVER AS IT'S JANITOR. SO WHEN BADGUYS COME TO HANG OUT ON THE YACHT, SHE ASKS THEM POLITELY TO LEAVE, AND THEY USUALLY DO BECAUSE SHE'S HIGHLY TRAINED AT DEALING WITH BADGUYS.

MOST OF THE SHOW WILL REVOLVE AROUND THE LOVE TRIANGLE BETWEEN THE TWO BILLIONAIRES AND THE AGENT WHO THEY DON'T KNOW IS AN AGENT. SHE'LL TRY TO KEEP THEM OUT OF TROUBLE, MOSTLY BY REMINDING THEM TO NOT DRINK TOO MUCH, OR TO WEAR A LIFE VEST WHEN WATER SKIING. THEY TIME TRAVEL OCCASIONALLY, BUT USUALLY JUST TO A COUPLE DAYS AGO SO THEY CAN PAY THEIR CREDIT CARD BILLS ON TIME. BECAUSE THAT'S HOW RICH PEOPLE STAY OUT OF DEBT, TIME TRAVELING BACKWARDS TO AVOID LATE FEES.

AND THE YACHT WILL SAY SASSY THINGS FROM TIME TO TIME, LIKE "NO WAY," OR "I DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING."

THE NAME OF THE SHOW WILL BE "THE LOVE HOVER TIME YACHT."

SOMEHOW MY RENDER HAS GONE UP TO 16 MINUTES. I DON'T TRUST THIS CAPS LOCK TRICK.

2009-02-12T10:17:00.002-05:00

This my company's entry into the International 48 Hour Film Competition. I directed it with Layne, the Senior Designer here. It was a lot of fun, but it was brutal making a cartoon in three days. We got the genre, prop, line of dialogue, and character we had to use friday night at 7pm, and had to mail it off by Monday (yes, not actually 48 hours). So at least 3 days of 19 straight work hours, and then one of only about 14.

And you can watch it in HD at the vimeo site if you want.

2009-01-31T13:29:00.002-05:00

We made a cartoon last weekend as part of the International 48 Hour Filmmaking competition. It's sort of the style from this image, but with handheld video footage. Three days of shooting and animating and editing and making music and SFX. It was exciting, but I'm still kind of tired from it (and from working all weeek). I'll post it online soon.

Also, the new Mr. Children-for-Hands will be done very soon. Hopefully this week. It just needs some audio mixing and color correcting. I think I even like how it's turned out.

2008-12-28T17:21:00.002-05:00

2008-12-18T19:09:00.010-05:00

The Bark-Bark Outer Space Friends Holiday Movie Adventure Spectacular is here!

(click the image to link to the movie)

I'd like to thank Mollie Brock for her brilliant voice acting and the exceptional cello and cinematography of Geoff Bremner, as well as the collaborative input of the many clever people at the office, and my boss for paying me money to do this for almost a week and a half.

You can print out the characters and make a movie with them yourself. And you can check out other projects we've done (mostly commercials) at www.bark-bark.com.

(it's back up! click and watch enjoy!)

2008-12-15T19:44:00.003-05:00

I had some art up in the ASIFA Atlanta (the Atlanta chapter of the animation society). here are some pictures.

They're still hanging up at the Eyedrum on Memorial Ave. if you want to see them live. I'm asking $200 each, but if you really want one or both, we can work out a deal I'm sure.

2008-12-15T00:54:00.004-05:00

This is the five hundred and first entry in the Midnight Mailman Show. I started writing six years ago in 2003, and the fifth sentence I wrote was, "maybe it could be like a tv variety show where i have puppet friends and special guests?"

I'm not sure I like this most recent rendition of the Midnight Mailman here, but it's interesting to see how my drawing skills have come these past several years. Maybe I'll put together a montage image of the different looks the Midnight Mailman has had. Maybe i'll forget and never do it. Either way is good, I think. And some day I'll be really good at drawing.

I've just about finished a new short puppet movie called "The Outer Space Friends Holiday Adventure Movie Spectacular" and I'm very happy with it. It has space exploration, friendship, tragedy, a big dance finale, and an activity kit you can download. We will be posting it to my company's website sometime in the next few days, and I'll add the link here.

And as a special added bonus, here's a drawing of a kitty. His name is Belvedere.

2008-12-07T21:47:00.003-05:00

It's a little after one in the morning and I just finished doing some writing. I'm going to shoot a little puppet movie this week, and I'll post it here soon as I'm done. I'm excited about it.

2008-12-07T21:03:00.002-05:00

There is a frog in a pond thinking about a pond with no frog.

I've got a project at work where I need to make a short video using paper cutouts walking around the city doing something. It's somehow part of the holiday gift we're sending our clients. I should shoot it tomorrow or Tuesday, but I don't have a really good idea yet.

There are three of the characters, and they're real boxy. One is a spacetronaught, one is a robot, one is a green monster. I think they'll walk around the city and talk about things that are profound and meaningful. They'll discover the true meaning of the Holiday Season and grow giant and it'll be exciting.

Maybe I'll just shoot a bunch of footage and then edit it to some funny dialogue. Surefire equation for success.

2008-12-05T12:57:00.003-05:00

A drawing I did for the upcoming Sass Parilla The Singing Gorilla comic book my friends are putting out. It's going to be a fold out or something.

The comment I got was that it was nice, but conceptually I was off -- Sass is a man in a gorilla costume, and this looks like a real gorilla. I argue that he is wearing a really good gorilla costume, like he's in a big-budget hollywood movie with an animatronic face control.

2008-12-03T13:39:00.002-05:00

I've been going to the ASIFA life drawing sessions every Thursday night that I can. I've been thinking that I really want to be good at this drawing thing, and life drawing seems to be a good way to go about it. I really enjoy it. Tomorrow I'm going to bring a big pad of newsprint, usually I draw very small, so it'll be interesting to switch to large format.

I've also been thinking about doing a Big Scary Monster Halloween stop motion project.

And currently in production is another movie with Mr. Children-for-Hands, "The Giant."

Things are happening.

2008-12-02T12:16:00.002-05:00

2008-10-10T11:02:00.002-04:00

(photo provided by the esteemed Matt Hutchinson. )

2008-09-08T16:36:00.004-04:00

The three are standing by the side of the Highway. It is cold and the sun is going down.

Chicken is hanging from Portus's neck, dangling down the other's back like a cape made of brick. Chicken had long ago given up walking in hopes he would finally get around to learning how to float. Portus is a patient and giving friend.

Dante doesn't leave home much. He is amazed and confused by his surroundings. He points at the tall buildings and says, "Wow! That's amazing. Just look at that."

Chicken, Portus, and Dante are standing by the side of the highway. It is cold and the sun is going down, it will be nightime in just a few hours and the three friends have no sleeping arangments anywhere nearby.

Chicken says the best way to learn a new language is to immerse yourself in it and not give yourself a chance to use your own. Portus will often complain that his neck and lower back hurt. Dante will ask if anyone wants some Asprin, as he himself is getting some and can retrieve some if anyone wishes.

Cars whoosh past and blow an icy chill through the soft downy fur of three friends, three Bunny Rabbits who aren't familiar with this sort of coldness, the one that seeeps into your bones and takes a little of your breath for itself. There is nowhere nearby to dig a hole--everything is asphalt and concrete. Everything is hard or pointy or driving really fast, whooshing the air into icy chill blasts. Morning is too far away.

Once he learns to Float, Chicken tells his best friends that he will then learn about Jokes. If you can Float, that's great, but how are you going to make any money with that? Chicken explains that if you can tell jokes while floating, people will pay you good money.

"I wish I had some good money," says Dante. Dante has enough money to buy three airplanes (in coins), but he pretends he doesn't have any. A magazine once interviewed him about a company he owns, and a radio show did, too. Sometimes he teaches a Business Class at a private University nearby. Dante says, "I wish it weren't so cold."

A car pulls up and the window rolls down with a mechanical whirr. "Do you Regular Bunnies need a ride?" The woman inside is short and round and old. Her skin hangs in fleshy gobs from her face, her large rose-tinted glasses obscuring her eyes. "Get in," she shouts.

Portus eases Chicken into the back seat and climbs in after. Dante wiggles his nose at the woman behind the wheel. She points her glasses at him, the left side of her lip pulled savagely close to her eye. "I said get in," her voice like a chainsaw.

Dante nods his head and hops into the back with his friends. Chicken, Portus, and Dante drive off into the twilight in the back of a large American car. Three Bunnies who are called Regular Bunnies by old women, old women who aren't scared to pick up hitchiking wildlife. Three who are hungry, and ready for a nap.

2008-09-07T18:34:00.003-04:00

Sometimes there are Floating Bunnies in the backyard. Somtimes there's nothing you can do about it, and you don't mind anyways.

Sometimes there's a sunny day with the light hitting things just right and it feels nice. Sometimes you don't ever want those days to end. Ask the Floating Bunnies, maybe they have some advice.

"Is there any way to stop my life from progressing any further than this perfect moment in time?" you could ask the F.B.s. "I just want to live in this moment forever and ever, and I'm thinking maybe you can help. You are floating."

"If we were you, we would buy some Name Brand Products. And watch Television." They might say.

Sometimes you might respond with, "Okay, sounds good."

Somtimes the day will pass slowly, but too fast all the same, and the sunlight will drift into night, and it's just fine, even if you do have to go to work the next day.

2008-07-06T23:35:00.004-04:00

"The Cute Invents an Invention"

The Cute has an idea. The idea is to invent a glass of Lemonade because he is thirsty.

The lemons are far too high for him to proceed with the inventing process.

The Cute gets some sensible advice.

The Cute goes to see The Magician.

The Cute faces his worst fear.

The Cute finds an affordable ladder at a garage sale down the street.

Lemonade turns out to be the best invention the Cute has ever invented.

The End.

2008-07-06T22:31:00.001-04:00

2008-03-11T12:40:00.001-04:00

2007-11-28T19:28:00.000-05:00

2007-11-16T18:07:00.001-05:00

Sometimes it's a lonely elephant.

2007-11-08T19:33:00.000-05:00

The astronaut just wouldn't stop talking.

2007-10-30T17:01:00.000-04:00

The boy waved goodbye to his ghost friend. It was time to say goodbye, they both knew it, but knowing doesn't make it any easier.

2007-08-03T12:28:00.000-04:00

(photo provided by the illustrious Mollie Brock)

2007-07-26T17:41:00.001-04:00

2007-07-25T10:57:00.001-04:00

2007-06-19T17:48:00.000-04:00

(photo courtesy of Aaron Barnes)

2007-06-13T18:36:00.001-04:00

2007-06-12T18:46:00.001-04:00

2007-06-11T19:55:00.000-04:00

2007-06-08T17:08:00.000-04:00

The Midnight Mailman and Mr. Happy Puppet Head in:

"Price Check on Aisle DANGER!"

Chapter TWO

(start from the BEGININNG!)

* * * *

When he’s done pissing on the water monster in the toilet, Mr. Happy Puppet Head says, “It’s all yours,” and bobbles away, leaving me alone in the most terrifying public bathroom I have ever been in. I’m about to follow my friend out when I realize my bladder is suddenly painfully full. Too much tangy lukewarm water fountain, I guess.

I look at the toilet and the angry monster. It snaps its translucent teeth at me and thrashes about. It briefly occurs to me I could just piss on the floor, but I disregard this as totally out of the question. I’m in a grocery store.

I stand a few feet from the toilet, just out of bite’s reach. Junk in hand, I raise it to the demon. My entire body is taut, eyes blinking furiously behind my goggles.

I can do this. I can.

Urinating on a monster sounds easier than it actually is.

Seconds crawl. I strain to listen for anyone else who might come into the bathroom to catch me in my cowardice. If someone were to come in, I’d pretend to finish and leave quickly without making eye contact. But I can’t hear anything over the creature’s insistent splashing.

I can do this. I expel liquid waste through my urethra all the time. Why should it matter if something’s trying to kill me as I do it?

I sigh heavily. I can’t do this.

I zip up and back carefully out the door. It’ll take maybe twenty minutes to get home. I can handle that.

I’ll be happy as long as I never have to go into that bathroom again.

I find Mr. Happy Pupet Head in the Damaged Aerosol Food section. Four severely dented cans of Spray Cheese for the price of one. Amazing.

2007-06-07T12:45:00.000-04:00

It's hard to breathe because of the smell.

"Knock yourself out, kid," says the man. "I'll be back in a few minutes to check on you."

Cinder stands staring at the lump of decaying carcass. "Soother? Is that you?" His friend doesn't answer. Things without faces rarely respond when their names are called, as our hero is fast learning.

Despite the stench, Cinder grabs a hug on his corpse friend and cries a little. They had had such great times together.

"Goodbye, Soother," he sniffs. "See you later."

The sun outside burns his eyes. He wipes away his tears and looks up at the man. "I'm ready."

"Hop in then," the door to the van swings open and the pair drives off to meet their destiny at Squiggly Jenny's Packing Plant.

***********************************
(photo courtesy of Victoria Warren)

2007-05-16T15:47:00.000-04:00

photo courtesy of Will Sanders in China (www.willsanderschinaadventure.com)

2007-05-14T13:23:00.001-04:00

2007-05-09T21:07:00.000-04:00

The Midnight Mailman and Mr. Happy Puppet Head in:

"Price Check on Aisle DANGER!"

Chapter ONE

* * * *

At the local B&S, items are marked drastically down.

None of the cans in the canned food aisle have labels on them. Instead, they are divided into three sections with signs demarcating which section is which. Our options are "Good," "Edible," and "No."

Bread items are piled onto one large squished, stale, moldy display.

The Vegetables are shriveled and the fruit is bruised. Lettuce looks like Oregano and Pears like Avocados. There are no Tomatos anywhere.

The samples are dumped in a pile on the floor.

A frightened squirrel is somehow tied to my shopping cart.

The woman behind the Deli Counter stares vacantly at me, her hands wrapped in soiled plastic gloves, her hair in a net. I point and ask her what a specific item is, exactly. She shrugs her shoulders and blinks. “It’s fried chicken with Bar-B-Que sauce on it.” I ask her how old it is and she says she doesn’t’ know.

Next to the worst Bar-B-Que chicken ever are various chunks of animals wrapped tightly in shrink-wrap. Some look like whole animals, fur and all. I don’t ask her about these.

Mr. Happy Puppet Head is chewing on something. I ask him what it is and where he got it.

“From the sample pile over there,’ he gestures behind him.

“That’s a trash pile,” I tell him.

“No, it’s pretty good.” He crunches loudly on whatever garbage he’s decided is food. Bits of lint and part of a dirty napkin cling to his mustache. “Where’s the bathroom?”

We find that someone has barricaded the men’s bathroom with a large pile of label-less cans of food. “I guess we’ll have to wait ‘til we get home,” I shrug.

“Yeah right. I have to piss.” He knocks over much of the pile and yanks the door open with his teeth. I follow, fighting for my balance as I make my way over all the cans.

Inside, the air is bitter and chill. There is only one toilet sitting in the far left corner of the surprisingly large, dimly lit room. Six inches of water covers the floor and I can see that the walls are layered with dark mold. A drip drip drip from the sink echoes loudly.

I don't like this room at all.

“This place sucks.” As Mr. Happy Puppet Head bobbles to the toilet, a Water Monster lunges from the filthy porcelain with a WHOOSH! It snaps jagged water-teeth furiously at the air directly in front of my friend, growling and frothing all over the place.

I jump straight backwards, diving for the door. My feet slip from under me and I crash to the floor in a soggy pile of cans and rolls of waterlogged toilet paper. “Mr. Happy Puppet Head!” I shout.

Mr. Happy Puppet Head stops and studies the translucent horror in front of him, miraculously standing inches outside of the monster’s reach.

“Wait your turn, dick-stain,” as he starts pissing his candy-smelling puppet urine all over the snarling Monster. “Hey, you think that girl at the Deli Counter wants me? I like older chicks with braces.”

End Chapter ONE.

2007-05-03T00:41:00.000-04:00

from the EXCITEMENT Marble Composition Book Collection.

2007-04-26T18:44:00.000-04:00

"Let's go!" says Diego. "Let's go into the jungle right now and wrestle that Computer right out of that Dinosaur's filthy claws!"

Diego Junior blinks rapidly. "I don't know... that Dinosaur said the computer was his, and if we went after him that he'd use the computer to Math us into Infinity."

"Aw, that's just Dino-Talk." Diego grabs Diego Junior and drags him towards the Jungle.

CUT TO:

EXT. INFINITY - DAY

The landscape is barren. The dirt and the sky are dull shades of grey, blending smoothly together at the horizon.

"This place is great!" Diego hops around in circles, stomping up little dust clouds.

"There's nothing to do here," mumbles Diego Junior. "I miss my computer games."

CUT TO:

EXT. THE EPILOGUE - DAY

Infinity found new friends today in Diego and Diego Junior. As they resign their respectivelly excited and bored selves in the vast wasteland of nowhere, we are reminded of something. This something is more important than video games and computers. Even more important than board games, puzzle games, comic book games, and French Toast.

That thing is Electronic Video French Puzzle Toast Comic Games.

Love is pretty good, too, but just doesn't have the same entertaining sugary crunch.

2007-04-25T18:45:00.000-04:00

"I'm not sleeping over anymore if you buy it," Marta his girlfriend had told him.

The salesman had been very good. "It's cheaper than a TV, and that smell prevents infestations of the home."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Only if it bites you. Or gets on top of you and suffocates you. Otherwise no."

That night, alone in his apartment, Leo had first been bitten, then suffocated by his new purchase. The money he saved from not buying a TV was inherited by his adolescent nephew who spent it on his school lunches over the course of several months.

Nephew also inherited the Stink Monster, but kept it in the basement and never even played with it.

2007-04-24T10:19:00.000-04:00

He told her a story of avarice and vice,
Of things that should never
Be spoken to mice.

2007-04-23T11:30:00.000-04:00

Illicit dealings.

2007-04-21T15:34:00.000-04:00

2007-04-16T19:39:00.000-04:00

There is a door next to the front door of your house. Outside there is only one, but inside there are two. While one leads to the outside world, the other leads to a confusingly bizzare alternate dimension. It's a funny trick to play on guests.

"Oh, no, that's the closet," lie to the Preacher as he reaches for the real door. He'll apologize quietly and step through the other door. He won't immediately understand that he isn't in the Regular World anymore. He'll stop at the melting mailbox and wave to you, smiling. You'll wave and smile back. He'll make his way down the sidewalk not yet realizing that the trees are spinning slowly around and around.

That night you'll be awoken by his distant, echoing screams. "Stop! I understand the irony! I'll change! I can change! Leave me alone! No! No!" He trails off with hysterical sobbing.

You smile and roll over in your big comfy bed. "I love you, Alternate Dimension," you'll think before falling soundly asleep.

It isn't cheap having one of those doors installed, but it's always been a dream of yours. Ever since you became a big shot in the entertainment industry, you've really tricked out your house. There's a ball-pit room, a hamster-tube maze big enough to fit you and your obese friends, the dining room with lush grass growing where the carpet should be, instead of a refrigerator you have a hamburger vending machine, and of course, the trick front door. The place may have a funny dead-body smell during the summer and terrible plumbing problems, but it's your dream home and you love it.

When the cops come, tell them the preacher left last week. They ask to look around, and when they don't find anything, tell them, "No, that door goes to the basement. That one's the way out."

2007-03-28T11:25:00.000-04:00

Send your cartoons to our first ever Animation Attack animated film festival.

We love your cartoons for our festival.

2007-03-27T12:22:00.000-04:00

2007-03-12T15:52:00.000-04:00

2007-03-08T14:39:00.000-05:00

2007-02-26T11:58:00.000-05:00

The robot movie I worked on. I did the animations and some other small things. The ingenious Tak Masuda directed.

The jump rope movie I helped rig blood on. The ineffable Blake Myers directed.

2007-02-26T11:19:00.000-05:00

2007-02-19T19:51:00.000-05:00

this is a still I made for my friend Tak Masuda's new movie "I Stand Alone." It has robots.

2007-02-08T17:03:00.003-05:00

2007-02-06T18:42:00.000-05:00

2007-02-05T18:29:00.001-05:00

2007-02-02T17:11:00.000-05:00

These pieces were commissioned by a guy named Milford Thomas, a very talented and nice guy, who is making a movie. Click above to see his MySpace page.

2007-02-01T17:53:00.000-05:00