Same sex Marriage and Prop 8 - Keith Olbermann says it all
I have never been accused of being the type of person who is shy, or holds back opinions on touchy subjects. Who is afraid of talking about sex, religion, or politics in public. I don’t believe in sheltering the world - I believe in knowledge. I believe in understanding. I believe in talking, and thinking about things which we don’t understand or that make us afraid.
This video of Keith Olbermann discussing his opinions on Prop 8 in California is probably one of the most thoughtful commentaries on this subject I’ve heard to date. I have always been a believer in same sex marriage, and think that we all as people deserve to share in a emotional, physical, spiritual and practical bond that is recognized by our government.
Keith points this out quiet nicey that religion should be embracing this with the “do unto others as you would have them do to you” bit. It has often seem to me that the whole issue of same-sex marriage and the problems with it stems from religion, or some religions. There are plenty of paradoxes in religion so to spend my time spouting off about it would be a waste. Let me just summarize in that I think because we view marriage as not just a civil union, but a spiritual union as well, most of the people who are against it are against it because it is not natural. It is not what God intended, it goes against the law of nature - procreation. My own father is against it, which surprised me. He is fine with the idea of civil union - but not calling it a marriage. It is an argument of the meaning/value of a word.
I would be very curious to hear an argument from an atheist who was against it and why? I’m curious also if it is purely the western religions/cultures that are reacting to this.
Well here’s the video brought to you via mcnbc via youtube -
J
My first self-published book… is DONE!!!
A couple months ago I came across the really great website - www.blurb.com. That has software that helps you layout and publish your own work. So I after starting and stopping it I have finally finished my first photo book on the great state of Colorado and my traveling there in the summers of 2006 and 2007.
You can purchase it in soft-cover, hardcover or imagewrap - the softcover will cost you only 34.95 - making it a perfect holiday gift for the coffee table book lover in you! Or you can just buy it to support a budding photographer who could use some extra cash.
Check out the link in the sidebar it will take you there!!!
After my next trip to Japan I plan on making a larger volume that includes my photos from the three years I’ve journeyed there. Till then enjoy Colorado… I know I did.
J
Art Direction image for my next short!
Well folks here is the first composite image for my next short - it is rough, but the look is there. The white figures are there simply for scale purposes - eventually they will be removed and the characterized figure of myself will be walking into this shot.
I’m pretty pleased with the overall look and welcome your thoughts and suggestions.
J
Iphone pictures
Here area few new shots from the past couple weeks. Some camera tossing, some random wierdness, and such
BBQ is alive in Savannah!
Well I’ve been searching for a place in Savannah that has good, no great BBQ and I have finally found it. Now I’ve not been to every tin shack, or sketchy roadside booth but I have been to all of the major players. I’ve ventured into some places and been pleasantly surprised and walked into others and left in horror.
Well just the other day I came upon - The Pit Stop Bar BQ and catering express - out on Hwy 80 in Garden City. As with most things like this I just happened to see it as I was driving by on another errand and stopped in on my way back.
It was an amazing experience. The food is real top notch dry rub BBQ with a succulent greenish brown sauce served on the side. The ribs were large and full of flavor, and the collard greens were simply divine. I choose the No. 11 dinner so I could try a little of everything and I was rewarded by a full happy stomach. It was love on a plate.
If the food wasn’t enough to get you there -then the owners would be the other. Friendly, talkative folk with warm southern hearts and a real talent for cookin’. I highly recommend this place if you are ever in Savannah or if you have a party and you want some amazing BBQ these cats are it!
J
Halloween and the pretend machine
Yesterday I bought a pair of fangs. Yep. Good old fashion prosthetic vampire fangs. They look pretty damn real but does walking around in normal clothes with a pair of fangs make a costume?
Dictionary.com says its - a fashion of dress appropriate to a particular occasion or season.
Ok so yes. So why a vampire? I wanted to be Darth Vader - probably should have gone there - but frankly at 100 dollars a day on the rental I couldn’t afford it. So I settled for the cheapest, simplest solution - my favorite childhood memory other than the Sith Lord himself -the vampire.
Halloween isn’t really about dressing up in a costume or the candy( ok maybe a little). Its about becoming, just for one day, someone or something else. Its about taking off your daily mask you wear and dawning a new set of rules and expectations to play with. Its the one day a year where “normal” people do not have to be afraid to be “weird” and write it off to “Whatever man it was halloween and I wanted to wear that superman suit.” Lets be honest here - if randomly on a tuesday in March you saw a guy walking down the street wearing a superman suit you’d probably think he was bit of a nutter, but on Halloween that nutter is probably your accountant.
He can for that short time become superman, act like superman, and not be afraid of anyone judging him. Just like when we were kids and the world was what you imagined it could be. We have somehow told ourselves that it isn’t ok to pretend on most days. We aren’t allowed to imagine being part of a great space battle or a deep sea exploration and act it out -because that’s crazy. Adults don’t do that. We exist in the real world -not some childhood fantasy - where we have deadlines, responsibilities and yogurt.
Do you remember when your pretend machine stopped working and your reality machine turned on? When it was no longer “cool” to play cops and robbers, or climb a tree while pretending to be exploring the dark jungles of Africa? When being older mattered and the day dreams of youth were just that dreams. It is a sad thing this loss of pretend. We artists are luckier than most I think because we get to keep our pretend machine. We get to imagine other worlds, become other beings doing amazing things, escaping, traveling - to us every day is a journey in the pretend machine. We get to live it and be mocked, praised and envied for it.
For the rest of you, Halloween is your out. Society gives you this one day to become a kid again and pretend. So use it. You get to put on that red blanket as a cape, dawn your blue pj’s, scrawl a messed up S on your chest and say to the world “Up, up and away!” Because on Monday, its back to eating yogurt.
J
New projects and old projects collide…
Well so the daily drawings have come to a slow miserable end. After much hard work, and thought I have moved past them onto a new short film, which I must say was inspired by them. I’m keeping it pretty quiet for now still in the boarding and design stages-but I do have some cool test imagery to show…
Check out this apple texture - 100% procedural nodes in Maya, rendered in Mental ray.
the apple
You see inside the apple because we are gonna do a pull back from the core and as we pull back the layers fill in - like we are really moving through it. I’m still wrestling with the edge where the cut happens, attempting to give it thickness, without displacement. Also not happy with the core shader just yet -needs a bit more wetness to it, but the spec is tricky since it is a dead flat plane.
More to come… stay tuned!!
J
Delgo news - NEW trailer online!!!
Well Delgo fans - there is a new trailer online at…
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/delgo/
It is really well put together, makes me want to see the film all over again. : ) There is one major typo on the page that we are aware of and hoping that Apple fixes immediately - my name is not listed along side Marcs as Director.
It is not a conspiracy. No-one deliberately dropped off my name - we are having constant problems with companies dropping off the second name as director. Marc gets lucky because we did the credits alphabetically - Adler comes before Maurer…
So the world is clear Delgo was Co-Directed by Marc Adler and Jason Maurer and Animation Direction was done by Warren Grubb. Also we are all listed with proper credits on www.imdb.com.
If anyone out there whom reads this has a direct contact or knows someone who has a direct contact at Apple for the individual who makes the changes to the trailers sites -please shoot me their contact info. I’ve emailed trailers@mac.com and I know that Marc has contacted whom he knows there - but we want this changed immediately.
Thanks again for all your support and help! Take a look and shoot me your thoughts!
J
*!!!! UPDATED!!!! Thank you Apple for your amazingly quick response to our inquiry!! I emailed them and less than 2 hours later, the site is changed! Way to go customer service! Love me some Apple!
Interesting shots
Finding random writing or unique situations when you are out and about always makes for good material. Here’s some Ive found lately.
My favorite is the crashing ATM machine thing damn near took my card!
Some lighting…
So here are some quick black and white lighting tests I’ve been playing with for a class I’m taking. Was going for the Lincoln Memorial. Using like 4 spots and Maya software rendering (which were limitations of the assignment). I’m happy with the moodiness and the contrast of them. I think that I could use some more bounce here and there - but overall I’m happy with the output especially considering each one took probably 1/2 hour to an hour to light. : )
Some interesting thoughts…
My friend and mentor Edward Kinney said these two things yesterday and I found them to be very true and inspiring…
“You have to stop seeing just the object; that’s how the food gathers see - NOT how artists see”
and
“Artists function at their highest when they are in touch with their impulses.”
Election - your vote is “significant”? WHAT!!!!
So for those of you who think that your vote counts… check this out…
I got this from…
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#process
“Is my vote for President and Vice President meaningful in the Electoral College system?
Yes, within your State your vote has a great deal of significance. Under the Electoral College system, we do not elect the President and Vice President through a direct nation-wide vote. The Presidential election is decided by the combined results of 51 State elections (in this context, the term “State” includes DC). It is possible that an elector could ignore the results of the popular vote, but that occurs very rarely. Your vote helps decide which candidate receives your State’s electoral votes.
The founders of the nation devised the Electoral College system as part of their plan to share power between the States and the national government. Under the Federal system adopted in the U.S. Constitution, the nation-wide popular vote has no legal significance. As a result, it is possible that the electoral votes awarded on the basis of State elections could produce a different result than the nation-wide popular vote. Nevertheless, the individual citizen’s vote is important to the outcome of each State election.”
or this part on how these people get the position…
“Who selects the Electors?
The process for selecting electors varies throughout the United States. Generally, the political parties nominate electors at their State party conventions or by a vote of the party’s central committee in each State. Electors are often selected to recognize their service and dedication to their political party. They may be State elected officials, party leaders, or persons who have a personal or political affiliation with the Presidential candidate. Then the voters in each State choose the electors on the day of the general election. The electors’ names may or may not appear on the ballot below the name of the candidates running for President, depending on the procedure in each State.”
Now I’m not saying to not vote, but I have always been curious as to why Big Al didn’t win and I knew it was because of electoral college but I had forgotten my consitution from goverment class in high school so I looked it up.
I’m now fumed. There are a group of other people whom the current encumbents choose that we apparently SOMETIMES vote in(with out really knowing much about it I might add) that make all the political decisions for us! WTF!!! This needs to be overhauled in someway - which by the way according to that website the Electoral college system has had the most proposed amendment changes -so its not like people are not trying.
Well I thought I’d share my frustration with the world - cuz I can’t frankly understand how there is a tight race going on between a man who is older than the State of Alaska and a man who came from a food stamp family.
J
Troy G teaching the right way… With balls…
Troy going over bouncing ball principles and weight for animation 1.
Delgo on earth? I can’t believe it!!
Ok sports fans… Warren shot me this link
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/09/most-alien-looking-place-on-earth.html
What is truly wack about this is that almost ALL of these plants, landscapes, etc are literally in Delgo. Now I know what you are thinking… we ripped them off … but I swear to you all that I’ve never seen them before - and I’m pretty sure our Art Directors hadn’t either - although we’d have to ask them to be sure.
For a second lets say that they didn’t know - how is it that we created these things and that they now exist? Did they tap into some greater sub conscious thing, was it genetic memory coming through - maybe they vulcan mind melded with the Earth… either way I’m totally freaked out!
The Young
In so many ways do I envy them,
yet they often loose sight
of what is true.
What is pure.
They dance but they don’t feel.
They sing but they don’t hear.
They draw but they don’t see.
It is life’s greatest irony that age
makes you respect these things
more.
Viv says goodbye
Viviene one of the best Teaching Assistance Ive ever had is off to the big apple to begin her career. Good luck Viv, we will all miss you!
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