Contemplate THIS!

THE MADNESS internet issue v.1.1.b	The Ocxim
July, 2004 vol.2.1.2004 June, 2004 vol.2.1.2004 Introduction ------------------------------------------------------ This newsletter is sent out to friends, family, and other folks who have expressed an interest in being kept up to date on my life. If you're not in this group, please let me know. As ever, if you are uninterested in receiving emails of this nature from me, just respond to this with some sort of indication for your desire to be removed from "the list", and I'll honor it without taking offense. I hate reading most newsletters, myself. You could just send a "remove" in the subject line, or send a detailed and expletive laden rant, and you won't have to worry about any further disturbance of this impersonal nature. Recently -- Personal News ------------------------------------------------------ The original version of the video "Dance, Voldo, Dance" made its Australian debut at Free Play (http://www.free-play.org), the independent game developers conference sponsored by the Next Wave Festival in Melbourne. A guy named Brody Condon featured it in a speech about something or other, stating that the video had reinvigorated his interest in this type of animation (which I recently discovered is called "machinima"). I had no idea... I was given a "free" 1983 Honda Magna 750 motorcycle three months ago, which has so far cost me $300 in registration fees and penalties (since the bike hadn't been registered for three years), $100 in repairs (though it runs just fine), and a broken hand. The braking of the hand, my left, occurred about a month after getting my permit, on a Sunday drive into Malibu. I'd gotten only two turns in to the Malibu Hills, panicked on coming out of the turn too tightly, and locked my brakes, sending my self flying onto the road. It was a minor break, but I was surprised by how severely damaged the tendons were (and still are). I'll be happy if I have full mobility and strength within a year. Recently -- Jobs ------------------------------------------------------ Storyboards for "Heart of the Beholder" were completed at the end of March, and principle photography should be ending on the film as I type this. They plan on having it ready for festivals in October, so if you're one to check out film festivals, maybe you'll get an early look before it's picked up by a distributor. Speaking of storyboards, I lucked into several jobs with a major commercial production company, Area 51, beginning with some shooting boards for the pre-season Angel's commercials (the "earn your A" or "we put the A in team" campaign), Taco Bell (the "I'm Full!" campaign), Kellogg's/Disney fruit chews, and a swiffer dust broom commercial with a chimp. They helped keep me in food and shelter through the Spring. I added another website to my collection of creations, though the design on this was completely lifted from another site, per the customer's request. I chose the fonts and colors, though...kind of like being an interior decorator rather than the architect. Anyhow, that's all at http://www.groundedascension.com . And on "Officer Down", a low budget film starring Casper Van Dien (very nice guy) and Sheryln Fenn (at whom I got to swing a rubber statuette), I choreographed a car chase, boarded the climactic confronation, and acted as a sort of creative consultant on set for a few days of shooting. The director, Chris Miller, is an old chum from "Bring It On Again", and the one who brought me in to help out. They had two cameras for the entire shoot, but at the end of the first week found out that one of the cameras was malfunctioning, and most of what it shot was out of focus. I guess it was more interesting to be there than tell or read about it. Sorry about that. Recently -- Comics ------------------------------------------------------ My "Chomsky and Mailer" strips are supposed to appear (if they haven't already) in an issue of Too Much Coffee Man ( http://www.tmcm.com ). That's the long and short of it. Shannon Wheeler, creative power-house behind the TMCM Empire, had very kind words for me about my mini-comic, Bainst, implying that he's read and/or flipped through it (issue #4) dozens of times while sitting on the commode. Bionic Comics ( http://www.bioniccomics.com ) is up and running, or limping at a respectable pace, at any rate. I've set myself the goal of making quarterly updates, which will keep things slow going, but better than the once every year or two that my regular site gets. Anyhow, it's a growing archive of comics with low print runs and distribution, so even most people who read comics will probably never see these anywhere else. Coming Soon -- Projects ------------------------------------------------------ Ostrich Ink is an on-line magazine with an eclectic collection of articles, but all that I've read have been well written and entertaining. This guy, Tom Neely, who does comics and stuff, contacted a bunch of Los Angeles based artists, and threw my name into mix for kicks, asking for submissions of ostrich-themed artwork to celebrate the first year anniversary of the magazine. Check out http://www.ostrichink.com on July 5th, and you'll be able to see the piece I did for them. While perusing the Joe Frank website ( http://www.joefrank.com ) a few months back, I came across a vague appeal for help, so I sent an email letting them know that I'd be interested in helping out with any spot illustrations they might need. In response, they upped the ante, offering me the chance to create an animated clip for the site. It's a bit of a challenge, since each radio show paints such a perfect "word picture", but I've picked one that I think will work, and have put it into my line-up. That's it, folks. My heart wasn't really in this one; I was just doing it for the kids. Hopefully the next one will have a bit more meat to it. Thanks for listening, FC Brandt Want to receive this crap in your email inbox? Send me a note...