I made this! *

* Well, I helped make this along with a bunch of other extremely talented folks, but I couldn't help quoting a favorite television show of mine...

Skool House Rock - Pull My Lever

And if that didn't convince you to go out and do your civic duty here's another one got to work on...

Skool House Rock - You Get A Sticker

Thankfully one of the projects I'm working on now is also based around a song or else I might still have that one stuck in my head.

Going for two...

I was almost tempted to wait till November 1st to post my next rambling entry just so I could keep up with my 'Post-Per-Month' quota, but ye olde Apple Pickin' waits for no one.


I decided to take a break from work and stroll (or in my case drive) on down to the local apple orchard. The closest one to my house, being gas-conscious and all, was Pennings Farm.


Here you can find everything and anything your imagination can drum up (well, almost everything... although maybe that's what the Petting Zoo is for). I'm better at pictures than blogs so I'll just go ahead and let the photographs lead the way for this entry.

First off...


Pumpkins! Lots...


And lots...


Of 'em. Oh, yeah... and corn stalks.


For all those things you need to do that require... corn stalks. Seriously, who buys these? The more interesting part of the wasted hour between Flash and After Effects work for me was this...


So, long ago the Pennings Orchard was run by... you guessed it! The Pennings family. And they use to live on the premises. About five or six years ago they moved out of the house and boarded it up. Then someone had the brilliant idea to use it during the fall as the orchard's very own Haunted House.


And yes... I have been in it. Many years ago and to be honest... it doesn't look any different (although I don't remember the knights). Unfortunately, it was closed up today, laying in wait for the weekend and the hordes of people that trek out here from NYC and NJ. However, I did venture as far as the front patio... or should I say I was lured there by a cute, fluffy (possibly ghostly) kitten that vanished into thin air as I rounded the corner and came upon this gruesome scene.


Yes... those are Boy Scouts. And yes... they did apparently eat one of their own (probably a counselor).


And yes... they are drinking hard liquor.


And what Haunted House would be complete without a graveyard filled with clever epitaphs? So, back to the Teddy Bear... He, apparently, was one of several creatures that didn't make it to this year's Haunted House. He and his buddies lay strewn out on the table in a more-or-less defunct greenhouse in the back amid the house plants and marigolds.



Soon to join the ranks will be good ol' Grandpa. For now, he hangs out in front with a sign warning folks to 'not touch' and muttering nearly inaudible ramblings about 'ladies' and 'doors'.


But here's something you can touch (although I guess most parents would be horrified at the idea). Turkeys! Goats (they like eating leaves)!



They use to have a cow but I guess it was moved after eating one to many articles of clothing.

Didn't see this coming...

So back in Sophmore Animation I, our teacher, Dana Gullo, went around the room asking each of us the same set of questions:

What's your name?
What got you into animation?
Where would you love to see yourself working in six years time?

Personally, my favorite is 'What's your name?' Little did I know she was preparing me for the necessary schmoozing I would do in the coming years at various festivals and parties. Anyway, back to college...

Most people answered with the usual: Watching cartoons as a kid and any notable animation studio out there at the time. One guy even had the guts to say he wanted to work for Disney. Gullo quickly crushed his dreams which is what any college professor can only hope to do, right? Another student (and I believe this was even after the Disney comment) said his dream was to work for a Japanese studio like Miyazaki's. Her response to that was something along the lines of "Do you speak Japanese?"* I was one of the only people who said I wanted to just make short films (which didn't sound at all stupid to me at the time). Gullo offered up the term 'freelance animator' which I had never even considered before. I guess most little animators grow up thinking the only option is to work at some big corporation like Disney.

Well, here I am and while it kind of sucks to not have health insurance (a 'con' I am working on fixing at the moment) and spend most of the day alone at home glued to the computer or light box it has it's better moments...

Thank you, Titus... the fluffiest paperweight ever.

*By the way, that student can not only speak Japanese now, but is living and working there so I guess some dreams do come true... Personally, my childhood dream of becoming a pirate completely flopped (I could have said 'died at sea' but I'm not one for puns).