Artwalk This Weekend

If you are looking for something to do this weekend?

Come to the The Brewery ArtWalk

Admission is free and so is parking.

Saturday and Sunday

11:00 AM- 6:00 PM: Artwalk

The Brewery ArtWalk is a biannual weekend open-house in the world’s largest art colony.  People actually open up their home and let you in to experience their creative spaces and work…and you can buy the work at studio prices!!!  Over 100 artists that live in the Brewery, their studio, participate.  This is a great place to discover new local artists – or old local artists that are new to you.  You can talk to the artists and buy work from the artists at studio prices!

I will have my studio open all weekend and be painting live for folks who come to visit.  bring your friends with cash and empty walls!  I am in bldg 1984 North Main Street #202, upstairs.  Tallest building at the front of the complex facing Main Street.  Stairs face Moulton Street.

Directions to the Brewery

THE VENICE MEDIA DISTRICT HOSTS SPRING 2008 MIXER AT WIT ANIMATION

Join me at my friend Jeb Milne's Studio - WIT ANIMATION - Tomorrow Night for a fun little party! Ten bucks gets you in. Jeb has a gorgeous house and studio - come by and join me for a drink, great food from the Argentinian place Santino's and some fun.

I am usually sitting right here...in his front yard.

THE VENICE MEDIA DISTRICT HOSTS
SPRING 2008 MIXER AT WIT ANIMATION

Venice, CA — (May 8, 2008) – The Venice Media District will host its Spring 2008 Mixer at member company,

Wit Animation
on Thursday, May 22, 2008
from 6-9 pm.
(959 Superba Ave. in Venice,
at the corner of Lincoln Blvd.)
$10 at the door;

RSVP by calling 310.429.4169
or email events@venicemediadistrict.org
by Monday, May 19th.

The event features a demonstration of the new redBOXX technology from BOXX Technologies, Inc., as well as catering by Santino’s and a selection of wines from Venice Beach Wines.

In-kind/event sponsors include: Gustavo Morais, ST8 Creative Solutions for logo and invitation design; Daryl Barnett for event production; event photography by Photographer Jean Pritchard; web site design by Pablo Toledo of Venice Arts; web site design and management and evite design by Catherine Chevalier of Not Maurice; Robert Feist of Ravenswork for providing meeting/event production space; pr by
Hype and event promotion by HypeFest.

The Venice Media District has been created in response to the changing business landscape in the beachside community, and has very specific goals:

• Create networking opportunities and business-to-business awareness
• Raise awareness of the VMD through city designation and promotion
• Attract business & entrepreneurs to the area.
• Create a vehicle for non-profits to access the assets of the VMD

Venice Media District: bringing the creative companies of Venice together.

For more information, go to:
www.venicemediadistrict.org

Premiere Sponsor:
BOXX Technologies Inc.:
BOXX® Technologies Inc., headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance workstations and render nodes specifically designed to meet the high-performance and reliability requirements of digital content creators working in the 3D, animation, visual effects, digital film, architecture, game development and broadcast markets. BOXX’s rapid integration of cutting-edge computing technologies selected and optimized to deliver the best possible performance when running digital content creation (DCC) applications is reflected in its extensive line of uniquely featured and highly customizable systems, including BOXX APEXX®, 3DBOXX™ and 3DBOXX RTX workstations, and renderBOXX™ render nodes. For more information on BOXX Technologies Inc., visit the BOXX website at http://www.boxxtech.com

Sponsors:
WIT ANIMATION:
Dedicated exclusively to the art of character animation. Based in an idyllic compound in sunny Venice California, WIT has been providing world class character animation for clients such as McDonalds, Post Cereals, Nvidia, and countless others. WIT was started in 2000 by owner/creative director Jeb Milne. www.jebmilne.com
www.witanimation.com

Santino’s:
Three years ago Sergio Amata opened Santino’s, naming the place after his son, Santino. Sergio created an eclectic menu that reflects the many different cultural strands of his native Argentina, from Spanish Tapas to Italian pasta with a dash of Mexican flare thrown in. Each day of the week showcases a different specialty. Tuesday and Friday nights feature pizza from the grill, served from the quaint patio at the back of the restaurant. Thursday nights’ feature the paella recipe handed down to Sergio by his mother. Friday and Saturday nights encompass all of the favorites. If you are looking for the perfect place for a special event, Santino’s takes reservations for private parties on the patio. The space is the perfect place for anything from a ‘tete-a-tete’ dinner for two to an intimate group dinner. Santino’s also has an extensive catering service including ‘off-site’ Asado (Argentine BBQ tradition), and a variety of other party services and platters.
http://santinossantamonica.com

Venice Beach Wines:
A family owned retail wine shop open since January of 2007, focusing on small production boutique wines and artisan foods. The wines come from small producers from all over the world. We have, Spanish, French, Italian, South African, Australian, New Zealand, Portugal, Mexican, Chile, Argentina, domestic from Napa/Santa Barbara/Oregon/Washington state and even oddities such as Brazil and India. Venice Beach Wines is anticipating a remodel and reopening in June, offering its customers the opportunity to taste wines and receive on premise food service.

Siggraph 2007 - Sunday

View from East Side of Hotel

Yes, it's time to report on Siggraph 2007 in San Diego. I drove my mini convertible down from Los Angeles and broke in the engine at 110 mph on the 73. That was too much fun but I need to be more careful. Bad Angie!

I arrived in San Diego Sunday afternoon and checked into our hotel - the Marina Mariott. What a beautiful hotel! We were on the 20th floor and the pic above is the view on one side of the hotel of the San Diego Convention Center. Below, is the view of the pool from our room and the view of the Harbor. Just gorgeous! Click on any images here to see the hi-rez view.

After arranging the room and unpacking a bit...the first thing I did was check out the lounge downstairs and see who was around. Javier Solsona of Rigging101.com was sitting with Dan Herman and Mark Oftedal from Digital Fish. I joined them for some drinks and eats. I also rang up Mark Elendt and Calin Casian to come downstairs and join us.

Mark Elendt and Calin Casian

Mark Elendt is Senior Mathematician at Side Effects
Software and a Senior Mc-smartie in my book.

Mark has won 2 Scientific/Technical Awards!
He won the Technical Achievement Award (Academy Certificates) in 1997: For the development of the procedural modeling and animation components of the Prisms software package. (w. Greg Hermanovic, Kim Davidson and Paul Breslin) and the Scientific and Engineering Awards (Academy Plaques) in 2002: For their continued development of the procedural modeling and animation components of their Prisms program, as exemplified in the Houdini software package. (w. Greg Hermanovic, Kim Davidson and Paul Breslin).

Calin Casian was my "right-hand man" in my quest to make a character tool set in Houdini usable. He is a Character TD who actually listens to animators...how rare! He is also Romanian with a very funny accent!

So, between Mark and Mark, Calin, Dan, Javier...I had a pretty kewl little table to share stories with, before I even went out for the night!

The best thing about having Siggraph in San Diego is the Gas Lamp Quarter. This is the fun part of downtown San Diego where all the action is...it feels alot like New Orleans to me, but not so humid.

So, the first night we went to a restaurant called Chive. The 3D Pro guys were going to the Yard House for cocktails and we figured we would join them after we got some real food in our tummies. Chive was perfect mellow start because everyone knows the evening entertainment at Siggraph requires a long distance attitude - not a sprint...you must pace yourself!

We had several people join us there...Darin Hofmeyr, Leyla Tirgari (Accounts Rep from SESI), Sarah Counnas (Technology Production Manager at DreamWorks Animation), Mark Elendt and Calin - of course, Ran Sariel (Rigging Supervisor on the new Outlander movie), Graham and Keith Acheson from SESI who helped me with the Happy Birthday SESI Demo we showed this past week at the booth! We were having such a good time at Chive with the amazing food and martinis...I forgot to take pix, but we eventually moved on through Darin's cajoling towards the Yard House. This place had more beer taps than I have ever seen. Even more than the DD favorite - Library Ale House!

Motley Crew - Darin, Leyla, Brian, Graham, Calin and Keith

Brian, Me, Darin

So, I barely got a gulp of my martini down and Sarah again announced we were going to move on to another place to drink and meet up with folks! Sheesh! We all hurried to finish our drinks and moved the whole group to some place that had 3.00$ Margaritas and a bunch of DD peeps. Who'da thought?

On the way - as we all followed Leyla, (which btw was like trying to follow Mr. Magoo because she kept screaming into the phone..."Where is it!?" and leading us all down the wrong streets).

So, there was this girl at one of the many bar patios we passed along the way who kept saying "hola! hola!" and waving her hand like she was the queen of England!

I had to take a snap of her because it was so funny. Evidently her group was Italian and they learned to say Hola! instead of Ciao!

Crazy Italian saying Hola!

So, we finally caught up with the other group at the 3.00 Margarita Bar, here is Sarah chatting up Phillipe (one of the Side Effects presenters) and a few other CG guys.

Check out that 3.00$ Margarita she is holding...Whoa!

Leyla models "Vanna White" style with
the Margarita from Giant Land.

What happens at Siggraph, stays at Siggraph...
that is unless you read this blog!

And the hijinks ensue...

Roy Edwards!

More $3.00 drinks!

Still learning to use my iphone...
People call and I can't figure out how to answer it!
Yeah, I am not the most technical type.

And now we all know what tequila does to South Africans...
They speak Zulu and do little dances...

Judd Simantov speaks Zulu...




Dan Barker says "I want the bread!"




Judd and Dan do a Zulu Dance.

More to come as I get to Monday's festivities...

Siggraph 2007 - Monday

Monday is a day for the exhibitors to unpack the trucks and vans, and get their booths put up. However, there are various panels and papers going on, as well. This installment won't have any floor pix really...just a lot of drinking, socializing and debauchery.

BTW, if you work for a software company...they have 8 am meetings every day. Yeah, you go out and have fun with your buds into the wee hours of the night and then have to roll downstairs for a staff meeting.

My roomie from SESI was Leyla who actually conducted these meetings, so I couldn't escape. I was having a slumber party with mom. Well, with Mom who goes out and drinks with you the night before, but can get up and get her act together a lot faster than I could ever try.

Leyla = Moma Bird

On Monday, I had a panel to participate in talking about
Emerging Production Demands
but that wasn't until 1 pm.
So, I went back to the room and took a nap...of course.

Houdini Expert Panel: Judith Crow, Mike Kalshalk,
Craig Zerouni, Jason Iversen and myself...
I look bored and Jason is sleeping
oh look, Craig's talking :)

Wow they either look bored or serious,
Craig must be the one talking for this picture.

I was actually a bit nervous for this panel. I don't usually get nervous, but this is a room full of hardcore fx peeps who do lots of math and write scripts and I am just a lil character animator who tried to get some new tools built in H9. But, as we went, I found my way through it.

As soon as SESI has uploaded the recording of the panel...
I will post an .mpg here for yall.

After the panel, I caught up with my co-author Jamie Oliff. Jamie is currently working for Reel FX developing original story content for their new feature films. This is his dream come true, finally he is creating original content and having too much fun doing it!

Jamie with his signature drink in front of
his face for every pic I take...

Reel FX recently acquired Radium and they have location in Dallas, San Franciso and Santa Monica. Reel FX/ Radium rented a boat in the harbor to meet and greet prospective client and employees. Jamie and I joined them for some martinis in the sun.

The Reel FX/ Radium Boat

I took this pic with my new iphone and it feels like the cam has a fish eye lens... funny, because that is how I felt on the boat at first. I have never been on a boat in the water. When I told Jamie this he looked at me like I was nuts..."So, you have only been on a boat on land?"

Please let me explain...

I used to live across the street from sea urchin divers when I lived in San Diego and would hang out on the boat while they worked on it and just talk. So, yes, I have only sat on a boat on land in their driveway.

This pic made me laugh so hard I had to post it.

Tim from Reel FX joined Jamie and I for a while.

All of the boat's down there had really fun names...

So after a couple martinis with the Reel FX/Ra peeps, we decided to see what was up at the hotel Tiki Bar. My girlfriend Lori Frietag - Freelance Compositor Extraordinaire joined us. BTW, if my eyes get squint-ier, it usually means either Jamie is making me laugh really hard or the drinks are strong.

Jamie explains his dissatisfaction with the alcohol to mixer ratio in his drink...keep in mind if he were back there mixing we would all be asleep, falling down or sick right now. Last time I drank Jamie's Mai Tais, I fell on a cactus...true story.

The bartender put the run bottle dangerously close to Jamie and he grabbed it and fixed his Mai tai...of course, then, the bartender decided to join us.

Phillip is pondering what to drink and Darin just looks confused...or maybe he has a upset tummy.

So, I had to leave Lori and Jamie to go have dinner with the SESI folks, until the Maya/Autodesk party that night. SESI was having their company dinner at Bella Luna and I had to get moving.

SESI Dinner table...

Peter and Ron, two of SESI's instructors. Ron never smiles, but I am gonna try and get at least one pic of him tonight where he doesn't look like he is gonna mess you up. Ron was my favorite teacher at SESI. He even got me to build a spoon in Houdini. Yes, I modeled something - Holy Cow. My old modeling buddies from Oddworld - Marvin Kim and Jane Mullaney - I know are laughing now...right?

Janet and Erick decide what to eat...

Paul (CTO) and Graham (Calin's slave, Jr. Character TD)

Jeff Wagner always knows what I like to eat and how to order for me. You see, I always have ordering envy...I never order the right thing. Anyways...David Robert, in the middle...you might remember from my posting about his SEED project and finally, Mark Tucker who made a great impression on me my first day trying to learn the software...he was very kind and understanding. Thanks Mark.

Told ya I would get at least one snap where he didn't look like he was gonna kill you.

So, it was time for me to leave and get ready for the Maya/Autodesk party. I had a special party dress to change into, so I caught up with Jamie and Lori back at the hotel changed and we caught a cab to the Aircraft Carrier.

We were still early enough for the free bar and there wasn't really a line. We walked up a bunch of stairs to the very top where all the planes were. Drinks were scarce. There had to be 3 thousand people up there and only two bars. It was pretty ridiculous. A friend of mine had figured out the method of coming at the bar from the side to get drinks and did so for us. I understand a venue of this size is hard to manage but two bars with only a couple bartenders each?

We did walk around and look at the planes because as you might remember Jamie is building one in his garage.

Not quite the same as these planes huh?

I was kind of worried about the guy inside this plane and wondered if we should try and get him a cocktail?

I have no idea what this is - but it's kewl...

And that's is a missle I think... :)

Jamie explains something about the plane and now I feel like I am at the museum with my Dad.

Lori poses...

So, we got tired of planes and wanted to try and go downstairs where the dancing was. There were two choices. You could take the very narrow stairs where it seemed like 2 thousand people were waiting in line to go some where you could actually have some fun...or you could take the elevator where only about a thousand people were waiting in line to get downstairs. You think I am exaggerating, but seriously...there was no control over how many people were trying to navigate this venue.

We had maybe 30 people in the elevator. Lori and I were the only females, of course, and I started to panic that the elevator would break or stop on our way down with us crammed in there like sardines. Turns out, we got out fine...on the second floor to meet up with some crazy old man with a flash light telling us to "move along!!"

We tried to get past him, but he was like the caretaker on Scooby Doo and we were the meddling kids on his boat. He sent the entire elevator packing. Who knows how many other folks spent about 10 mins on the roof only to be ushered away afterwards? If the elevator was your path to leave the party for good, there should have been a sign and someone standing there to tell you so...like they do at the standard hotel downtown. Sad, Sad, pathetic party. I will be doing a "Best and Worst of Siggraph" posting soon, but I can tell you this was the Worst party.

We caught a cab and hit downtown San Diego for some real fun...at a Tequila Bar.

See the smiles - that's tequila!

So, that was Monday. More to come on Tuesdays fun on the floor and the Houdini party!