2013: How Is It Already May?

2013 has been whizzing past and I haven’t been taking a lot of time to post on the blog; allow me to defend my “inactivity.” So far, this year has been jam packed with work, travel, side projects, events, etc. I can’t recall taking a day to rest so far. Work has been piling up, my hours have increased, but I refuse to sacrifice my many passions, hobbies, and favorite forms of leisure- so I’ve been sacrificing sleep and decompression-time instead.

The question I’ve been asking myself recently is- is it possible to work more than fulltime, exercise 3-5 times a week, travel out of town at least once a month, see my sister and friends, stay in touch with my family, seek out and consume various books/movies/shows/music, explore and enjoy Los Angeles, surf/bike/hike, learn some French, meet some people, write/record/promote an album + music videos, animate some shorts, and not go insane? Or die?

So far the conclusion I’ve drawn is yes, it is possible, but barely. It is possible to do these things. But I am sleeping less and stressing more. Certain of the aforementioned activities fall to the wayside for a bit, only to be re-engaged with gusto a week or two later. For now, the blog is at the wayside, and I’ve come to terms with that. I’ve had to work more nights and weekends (at one point staying in the office until sunrise). My room is often a mess, and I can’t seem to keep up with standard errands and chores. But I’ve been good about not neglecting personal work: the album I mentioned will be done within the month and I’ll surely jump into some other passion project. Last year it was the 1% Club, and although nothing so great ever came of that I’m damn proud of it and don’t regret the work I put into it. Hopefully my current and future slate will make me feel the same.

multitask

PS In the last 6 months I’ve done NYC, Chicago (twice!), Las Vegas, Colorado to ski, Phoenix, Coachella, and New Orleans for Jazz Fest. In the next few months I’ll go to San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Paris. It’s been a craaazy year and there’s no sign of that changing anytime soon. Onwards!

RIP Ray Harryhausen

One of the first and most influential stop-motion effects animators passed away today. Ray Harryhausen is perhaps best remembered for the incredible skeleton fight sequences fromĀ Jason and the Argonauts but was also a noted influence on filmmakers such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Though he stopped working in the industry some time ago, Ray lived to the ripe old age of 92. His output was and remains inspirational to me; he was one of the first filmmakers to bring the fantastic to life onscreen and much of the subsequent VFX output in the world of cinema is an indirect result of his work. We owe him a great debt and he will be missed.

Ray Harryhausen

“Pop This Way” Opening Sequence

Haven’t been posting nearly enough lately but what better reason to dive back into things than Emily Rifkin’s newest animated marvel! Her opening sequence for the tv show “Pop This Way” is flippin’ sweet but based on her past work I suppose that’s to be expected by this point. Great stuff: