Paperman

I recently got the movie Wreck-It Ralph from Netflix.  I thought it was pretty good (some of the music was better than the film, I think), but when I went digging in the (non-existent) bonus features, I discovered the short that would have played before the start of the film in a movie theater.  Paperman.

It’s another one of those videos, like Morris Lessmore in my previous post, that instantly draws you in, leaving you enthralled and oblivious to all around you.  I love the black and white rather than color, the contrast of light and shadows they use, the simplicity and also the great detail put into it.  I think it’s really well done, and great for the imagination.  Hope you all enjoy it as well.

(Follow the link and scroll down just a bit.  I couldn’t find a link on Youtube to post, but found it here instead.)  🙂

http://themovieblog.com/2013/watch-disneys-short-film-paperman/

The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore

I had the great delight of stumbling on a beautiful book at the bookstore a few months ago.  I read it twice in the store that day, and returned the next to read it again.  Short story made shorter, I needed to own a copy.  I bought it my second visit back.

The book was The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore.  The story is amazing, the illustrations are incredible, and if I was willing to buy it you know it must be halfway decent.  I rarely buy books and I couldn’t stand not owning this one.

In looking around online I discovered there is also a short film by the same name.  I was a bit afraid that in watching the video it would ruin the magic of the book, but it is equally as magical (…maybe slightly less.  You can’t really compete with a paper book in your hands).  Here it is.  (If by some chance the video is removed from Youtube, just google around for it.  The whole thing should be around fifteen minutes long.)  Enjoy!

Wind In My Ears

Here’s a happy, relaxing video for your afternoon.  I’m not sure I can currently think of anything more peaceful than dogs with floppy ears and mouths going for a car ride through beautiful countryside.  I hope Heaven’s like this.  Enjoy!

Thought of You

I saw this video posted on a friend’s Facebook page a while.  The music paired with the beautiful animation is just stunning.  The characters’ movements are incredibly lifelike.  In watching part of the behind the scenes video posted elsewhere, I believe the artist used real life models and choreographed dances to work from for the video.  Anyway, wanted to share.

Amazing Dancing Skills

This is a video created by the same guys who made the How Animals Eat Their Food video that went viral a couple months back.  I like this video because 1) it’s hilarious and 2) I aspire to one day dance this well.  That’s right, this dude dances better than me.  That’s really sad.  But now you can enjoy horrendous thoughts of what I must look like attempting to dance around my kitchen.  🙂  Enjoy, everybody!

Kittens on the Beat

I saw this video online a while back and thought it was pretty fun.  It has tiny ninjas and kittens, what’s not to love?!  It’s also very well done and quite clever.  (It also reminds me a bit of Romantically Apocalyptic and Zee Captain.  Tee hee.)  Here’s a link to Corridor Digital’s other videos if you’re interested.

Bonus kitties!!!

My Furry Sixth Sense

I’ve known since basically forever that my dog is a protector.  I wouldn’t say he’s a guard dog (I’ve honestly no idea what he would do if someone tried to mess with me or my family…he’d probably not be happy at all), more of an alert dog.  I was reminded of this fact twice today, and also why this is one of the reasons I love having him around.

Liam sneaking up on my dad. 🙂

The first instance was this morning.  I was working on something (facebook, maybe…?) and was gradually realizing that one of the neighbor dogs was incessantly barking outside, which they don’t normally do.  About this time my dog Liam barked as well.  I’m not sure if I’ve said this before, but Liam doesn’t bark.  Ever.  The only time he will ever bark is if he thinks something is wrong, or if something is out of place or out of the ordinary.  So I went out on the back deck to see what the fuss is about…turns out, there were some people in the backyard next door looking at the house to rent or something, I think.  My boy knew they weren’t supposed to be there, he knew they weren’t usually there, hadn’t seen them before, so he told me.

On a slightly different note, there’s this weird thing that happens to me when he barks.  I don’t really know why or how, but I seem to hear him even before he’s actually making sound.  Even if I’m in bed and he barks at something, I always feel like I’m already moving before he’s properly started to bark.  Maybe it’s one of those weird mom senses or something.  I don’t know.

The second instance was later in the day.  I was washing dishes and happened to glance out the window.  Liam was sitting straight up, staring at the road that goes behind our house.  He seemed pretty intent on something, so I just thought “Hm, wonder what’s caught his attention?”.  A few seconds later, I began to hear sirens, and pretty soon an ambulance screamed by on the road.  Again, he knew it was coming.  In this instance, he wasn’t alerting me to anything, cause cars go by on the road all the time, but he was still very, very aware of what was happening.

His serious face.

I’ve learned, over the last few years especially, to always, always trust the animals.  I know some dogs may actually bark at nothing, but in my experience, my pets never lie.  Even the cats.  Our skinny kitty will lock on to something out the window.  I’ll get down to her level and look, and it may only be a leaf blowing in the yard, or a bird on the roof three houses down, but there’s always something there.  It’s never nothing.

So, essentially I kind of adore my dog.  Not only is he keenly aware of every single thing going on around us at all times, he’s the goofiest boogerling ever who likes belly rubs and playing hide behind the tree and sitting all ninety-something pounds of himself on my big toe…he’s a goose.  🙂

In case anyone needed proof of his gooberness. 

PS  All of these photos are from a while ago…I don’t have very many recent pictures, and it was a good excuse to go back and see how adorable and gangly he was.  🙂

 

Letters From Paris

This post will likely tie in somewhat with my previous post titled What Do I Desire, but that’s okay.  Etsy‘s Facebook page posted a link to their blog sharing an interview with an artist, Janice MacLeod.  Here is that link: Quit Your Day Job: The Paris Letters by JaniceArtShip.  Please do read the article, it’s not long, but summarized it’s about a lady who, unhappy in her ordinary office job, quit, moved to Paris, and began painting and writing letters as her business and means of supporting herself.  Not only is this flat-out awesome, it’s also, dare I say, inspirational.

https://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2013/quit-your-day-job-the-paris-letters-by-janiceartship/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Internal&utm_campaign=EtsySuccess_theparisletters

Being the crazy, unrealistic dreamer-person that I am, the idea of ditching everything and hauling myself across the planet to make a start at life with no real plans in place is terribly appealing, even if it is slightly terrifying at the same time.  Believe me, for the past several months I’ve threatened my family with everything from becoming a gypsy and traveling the world, to buying an RV and exploring America, to moving back to England to do goodness-knows-what, to my latest obsession of traveling to and living in Utah (you wouldn’t believe how many cool people live in Utah and the nearby surrounding areas…).

With this article, though, there is hope.  All my lovely schemes and plans are largely plans of escape, whether physical, mental, or both.  I long for escape and freedom, and if it takes moving to Utah to get it I’m almost to the point of doing it (not quite though, don’t panic, don’t panic.).  In all seriousness though, two of the things I’ve loved doing for a very long time are painting and writing, and this lady has managed to do both and make a living and live in a foreign country to boot.  I think that’s amazing.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/92192229/paris-letters-6-months-of-letters-about?

So, if anyone needs me, you will find me interning with her in Paris.  Soon after, I shall open a second branch in the UK and have a jolly time and do something I love while earning money (take that, person in previous post who said I couldn’t earn a living doing art…)(yes, I was told this several years ago, and yes, it still bothers me somewhat.)(and yes, I also really like to use parentheses).  🙂

Please, please, please visit her shop and buy a subscription to her letters if you can.  Or buy just one.  Buy some for your friends.  Support a really cool, not-so-local artist, and help her keep doin’ what she’s doin’.  People like her are the kind of people who give people like me little glimmers of hope in life.  Always support artists.  Prove everyone wrong, that you can make a living with art!

What Do I Desire

I recently saw this video posted somewhere on Facebook, and it instantly intrigued me.  I’m at a point in my tiny life where my brain and my heart are often a bit at odds.  I hear my photo teacher tell me that she’s actually easy on us and we’re in for a shock once we get to the real world.  I’ve heard a previous student say that life’s much harder once out of school, that people are much tougher out there than in the classroom.  I once had someone I respected tell me that you can’t make a living doing art.  These things are crushing to a slightly head-in-the-clouds dreamer like me who’s trying to believe in a wonderful future of some sort.  And frankly, after hearing all these things, that wonderful future seems to be only a little wisp of fog, barely there and impossible to grab.

On the one hand, I believe the people who say life isn’t all fun and games, that you can’t properly make a living doing art instead of taking on a normal, everyday job.  I generally believe now that I’m not good enough to make it at art anyway, which should technically solve the problem right there.  I know life isn’t always easy.  I understand that.  We as humans do not always get our way (boy do I know that…), and sometimes we have to brave a couple of storms before we get to the sunny weather.

But my little dreaming heart can’t hep but wonder, “Is that it?  Is that all we’re meant to do, to suffer at a job we hate merely for a paycheck, to never enjoy what we do?  There has to be a way to survive and be happy at the same time.”

I don’t know if my little heart is right or not.  I certainly hope so.  I like to think that, one day, in the near future preferably, I’ll be able to do something I enjoy for a living.  Maybe not art, but something.  Maybe one day I’ll become a master of this something, or a master in my art (although I doubt it).  Maybe.  We’ll see.  Until then I guess I keep doggy paddling, try to keep afloat, try not to drown entirely in all these waves.  The sun has to come out eventually…or that’s my hope, anyway.  One day…

Cartier Short Film

This evening I was watching TV and fiddling on my computer, passing time, not doing anything important.  The show that we were watching went to a commercial break, but I wasn’t paying much attention.  I happened to glance up from my laptop, and for the next three and a half minutes I sat mesmerized, staring at the TV.

What played was a commercial, but it was no commercial like I’ve seen before.  Many advertisements are funny, dull, or interesting, factual, possibly intriguing, but not this one.  This one was beautiful.

It was an advert for Cartier, a jewelry and watch company.  They also have another site detailing about their commercial/short film and giving details about their roots and background.  I think Cartier was wise to call this a film, because it is so much more than a normal advertisement.  Here’s the video for you all to enjoy.