Williams A Cappella

I love the last lyric.

Voyage of the Obyrith, Chapter II: The Fallen

I started doing these pseudo-comic covers for a DnD campaign I'm running to get the players pumped up for each game. Here's the 'cover' for our second gaming session:

The dark of night holds many secrets,

The dark of night tells many lies,
Beware the things that shimmer there,
They may be friends, they may be spies

More cool art at Dungeons and Shenanigans.
For you gamers out there looking for good, atmospheric music--check out E.S. Posthumous. You may recognize some of his tunes from trailers, but the full unedited songs are really epic, intense, and all-around top notch!

Justin Wright on Wikipedia

Someone was kind enough to set up a wikipedia page for my good friend Justin Wright, who passed away earlier this year. Aside from being one of my best friends, I owe a lot of what I know about story and filmmaking to Justin, and it's great to see his legacy living on. There are links to Pacific Union College, CalArts, Pixar, and the Make-a-Wish Foundation from his page, so I am sure his story will inspire and empower others. If you're ever on a wikipedia binge, please swing by Justin's page and give it a read!

"It's funny out there, make sure to laugh."
--Justin Wright

Fictional Presidential Campaign, Part II

Looks like Gandalf is ahead of Xavier in the polls. But the X-Men aren't about to give up that easy. Xavier's campaign has its first attack add ready, and it brings some interesting points to light!

Who is Gandalf the White? Two films ago, he was promoting the Grey agenda, why the sudden switch? And why does he want to sneak WMDs back into enemy territory?



Gandalf holds council with Saruman of Many Colours: a known terrorist, anti-environmentalist, and leader of orcs. Can we trust him with our forests?



When he isn't paling around with terrorists, Gandalf smokes pipeweed with halfling thieves. Irresponsible; not ready to lead.



Gandalf is confused and out of touch. He doesn't know what the internet is, and couldn't even find his way through the mines of Moria.



Gandalf the White: not ready to lead.

"I am Charles Xavier, and I approve this message."

Fictional Presidential Campaign, Part I

Tied at a measly five votes each, Gandalf and Professor X are the top contenders for fictional President of the United States. Personally, I'd vote for Santa Claus--the guy can traverse the entire planet in just one night and knows where all the naughty people live. Bin Laden: check!

But the people have spoken and these our your candidates! Will it be the telepathic genius whose platform is tolerance and education, or the powerful wizard known to work across the aisles to unite many races against a common foe? Get back to that poll and make your fictional voice heard!

While I'm on the topic, a belated condemocratulations to President-elect Obama! Whether you support his policies or not, it's exciting to live in a nation where opportunity is truly available for all. It's also pretty fantastic experiencing in one of those positive-feeling "Where were you when...?" moments I've heard about all my life. God bless America!

Michael Crichton
(Oct 23, 1942-Nov 4, 2008)

If you know me, you know that my favorite film of all-time is Jurassic Park. Aside from Star Wars, I'd say Jurassic Park is the main reason I wanted to become a filmmaker. Steven Spielberg's directing, Stan Winston's dinosaurs, Gary Rydstrom's sound, and Dennis Muren's effects are all astounding, but Jurassic Park would be nothing had it not been for the imagination and scientific curiosity of Michael Crichton.

I remember reading the book in third grade and being absolutely scared out of my gourde. The way Mr. Crichton spelled out the science behind bringing dinosaurs back from life and his descriptions of the theropods' predatory behavior, it was very clear that these weren't monsters or mutants, but actual animals--very real, and very dangerous! I recall having to periodically glance up from the book just to remind myself that I wasn't being stalked by voracious Velociraptors through the black jungles of Isla Nublar. I haven't read as thrilling of a story since!

It's heart-breaking to hear of Mr. Crichton's sudden passing from a private struggle with cancer. Sixty-six is fairly young, and he was still very active as an author, filmmaker, and speaker. I am grateful for the amazing worlds he gave us and the way his stories would tantalize the imagination of the right side of our brains while challenging scientific assumptions of the left side of our brain. As a scientist and an artist, Michael Crichton was quite a human being, and it is the least I can do to salute him on this blog.

So for all of you artists and filmmakers out there, please take an interest in science; it will only inform and inspire your work. And for all you scientists, remember to let your imagine challenge your preconceptions about the world around you. Finally, for Mr. Crichton, thanks for the magnificent scares, sir, and please say hi to Tyrannosaurus rex for me!

Michael Crichton on Charlie Rose
Michael Crichton on Environmentalism as a Religion

Hope you guys all had a fun Halloween. Looks like it's back to the crypt till next year!

Best. Costume. Ever.

top: Sonoko Konishi as Alec the Bunny, Mach Kobayashi as the G.I.
bottom: still of Alec from Presto, a Pixar animated short by Doug Sweetland

below: commandos stormed the Pixar costume contest stage this year in an effort to save John Lasseter from a sniper. Unfortunately, they were picked off one after another by said assassin. It was up to John to pry a rocket launcher from the cold, dead hands of one of the commandos and destroy the sniper himself. Below are the brave soldiers lost under enemy fire.
from left; me, Dovi Anderson, Emma Coats, and Mach "The Pitbull" Kobayashi.

HAPPY HA-HA-HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween, everybody! Make sure to scare the crap out of all of your friends. Also, a little reminder for everyone to get out there and vote! As the clown prince of crime himself once said, "Think about the future!"

Speaking of politics, here's my version of Gotham's tragic district attorney. As a fan of the original Burton films, I was always disappointed that we didn't get to see Billy Dee Williams' take on Two-Face. In The Empire Strikes Back, he shows a great capacity for portraying the key attributes of the character: ambition, confliction, and charm.

Chades Challenge XVIII: Hostile Trolls, week two