Categories
Dioramas

Anatomy of a crime scene no. 15

Cut paper diorama in altoids tin showing a graveyard with an open grave
Categories
Joie de Vivre

Nate Smith at Keystone Korner

We got to see the Nate Smith Quartet (with Christian McBride, Marquis Hill and Geoffrey Keezer) at Keystone Korner in Baltimore.

I have been a fan of Nate Smith for years, he’s one of my favorite drummers. I feel so lucky that we got to see him play with these guy in such an intimate setting. It was a fantastic show, and the food was as good as when we saw John Scofield. We managed to get a high-top table for two, with a great view.

Nate played some pretty straight ahead stuff to start with, and worked his way to a super strong finish in his tight, strong style at the end. I love it. His signature snare sounded sublime, too.

It was a fantastic performance by all four.

Nate Smith Quartet
Nate Smith Quartet
Nate Smith's drums
Categories
Joie de Vivre

NCR Half Marathon

We completed the NCR half marathon, which makes my third 12+ mile race this fall. It felt very, very cold this morning. On the turnaround for the return part of the race, we overtook 27 other runners, which I will admit felt kinda neat.

My watch conked out after the first mile, and I had to restart the workout, so anyone familiar with this route might notice that the first leg of the race is missing.

Categories
Animation

Professional Development

This was a kind of screen test for my bug guys. I drew it in Procreate (rotoscoped) and put the audio together.

Fun.

Categories
Joie de Vivre

A Mammoth weekend of live music

On Saturday night, we ventured down the Keystone Korner for dinner and the John Scofield trio. It was a great set – I’m glad I finally got to see Sco live. The food was good, too.

I’ve heard mixed things about the sound at Keystone, and I think I know why – there is preferred seating, which he had, where you can mostly see the stage.

In other parts of the U shaped club, the stage is out of sight, and you have to watch on monitors. The stage is at the upper right part of the “U,” and the entrance is on the other side. The bar, tables and some booths line the bottom of the “U.” I don’t think the sound is great over there in other parts of the club.

On Sunday, I met an old college buddy at the Ram’s Head to see Nita Strauss and Mammoth WVH. Both bands were great, and I’m blown away by how well Wolfgang Van Halen sings. Better than Sammy Hagar, in my opinion.

nita strauss
nita strauss
Wolfgang Van Halen
Poop and Castro

What a weekend! I covered quite a range of musical genres.

Categories
Animation

Magus Incognito

When I wrapped up Brains, I began thinking about what my next project should be. I have a sketchbook with a few ideas, including some music videos, and the sequel to The Lunatics (which I played with in the animation I made for the Peale last month). I also am eager to do some 3D stop motion work.

Another idea that’s been rolling around my brainpan is a treatment of some ideas put forth in a favorite book: The Kyballion. Initially, I figured it would be non-narrative. So, I picked up a fresh of The Kybalion: The Definitive Edition and began brainstorming.

This book was recommended to me by a medium in Washington, D.C. years ago, and I’ve returned to it many times. And the copy I’ve linked makes a strong case that William Walker Atkinson is the actual author. This edition also includes Atkinson’s The Seven Cosmic Laws. I’ve had a lot of fun reading this.

The Kyballion cover

I originally intended to make Magus Incognito in the spring, but a festival of hermetic inspired films caught my eye on filmfreeway.com. I seem to work best when I have a deadline, and had to quickly focus my ideas for this. This version is 77 seconds long, and the file I uploaded turned out to be 70.77 MB! I may continue to develop this material into a longer film, but this initial pass accomplishes what I was was hoping to achieve.

The animation can be viewed at doranimation.com.

I also made a dioroama for this animation in a Trader Joe’s green tea mint tin box.

Magus diorama in a trader joe's mint tin - cut paper scene from animation
Magus diorama in a trader joe's mint tin - cut paper scene from animation
Magus diorama in a trader joe's mint tin - cut paper scene from animation