New Beginning - Tribute to President Obama

Here a my video inspired by the Inauguration for President Barack Obama. When I realized my next youtube video would be my 50th video post, a personal milestone, in a way, I wanted to do something special. The Inauguration proved to be the perfect subject.
It a simple video, just a re-edit of the Presidents Slideshow on the White House web site set to the music played at the event. But I think you'll agree, this is new day, a "New Beginning", not just for Barack Obama, but for all of us. As I watched CNN that morning, even before the swearing in, it was the comments of the people in the gathering crowd that give me the most warmth and inspiration. Plain Americans from all walks of life who wanted to be there, to share in this historic moment.
So, here my humble attempt share the good spirit, and hope, for better days to come. Please share this with all your friends, and family members.

Enjoy.

Music Muse Day - More Or Les

In keeping with my Music Muse Sunday efforts, here's a original tune, "More or Les", my third Sound Sketch just posted on youtube.



The "Les" in the title refers to a old friend of Les Bernstein, not Les Paul the great guitar player, and father (inventor) of the solid body electric guitar, although it could be dedicated to him, also. This jazzy tune was inspired my a jam session I have with Les (B.) when we work together at animation company back in late '70s. Les was a much better guitar player than I was, at the time. But it was fun trying to keep up with him. Les is now a independent film producer/director. I hope he still plays. I'm working on some lyrics for this tune and longer version with a break for solos. Check back for it.

I'm getting braver about posting my music and showcasing my guitar play, as limited as it is. Next up,...a vocal. There one thing youth and old age share is a sense of fearlessness. Youth because they're too dumb to know better, and old people because they just do care. Besides, it been said there's no fool, like an old fool. Enjoy.

Sam Woodyard - Jazz Drummer (Jan. 7, 1925 - Sept. 20, 1988)

Duke Ellington - The Shepherd

Here's my annual tribute to my dad. The late, great Sam Woodyard. Here's clip I found on youtube with Sam playing in a trio setting with Duke Ellington, in a sculpture garden Of Miro pieces. He was well known for his brush work on drums. I don't think you hear that style of drumming much today. Enjoy.

Killzone 2 Game Flipz Books Retrospective

Here's my Dragonfly Flipz Book Killzone 2 Game Flipz books Retrospective. (All unreleased and Concept Demos, not for sale) Really, it's just a chance to make HD versions for better viewing.) I shoot this as a way to give a better sense of how you would read a Dragonfly Flipz book. You can think of as a Dragonfly Flipz introduction and "how to read"tutorial. I get many people viewing who don't quite get the Dragonfly Flipz comic book page / multi-panel flip book concept. I kept the repeating soundtrack, which is from a later Killzone 2 trailer, simple for that reason. I want this to be closer to the true book experience. I think of my Dragonfly Flipz Mini-Books as a new graphic novel, comic book, and story book format. I plan to develop them for movie tie-in books (like for Transformer, Batman, etc), and education titles (like a Space Shuttle launch, or Mars Landing). I considering trying doing a Dragonfly of a feature length movie of like the original King Kong or maybe the recent Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Time will tell. For now, enjoy.

Confession of an Accumulator

"Now it's the day after Christmas and my clock is in the red"
(lyric from the song, Love Waits by Richard Miceli - Warped Sky Band -'80)

I hope everyone had a wonderful, peaceful, holiday season.
But, I'm glad the annual, massive, rush to buy and get new stuff, that started in mid-November, has finally ended. Don't get me wrong. I love the whole Christmas and Happy Holiday season. I love giving presents, more than receiving them...really. But, as I'm still in the middle of settling in after moving to a new house. Emptying our storage space, I realized I have lot of "STUFF"! Like a lot of artist / animation nerds my age (late 50's) I have loads of comics, books, paperback books, vinyl records (yes, 12" records), toys, posters, and oddball stuff that hard to label. This is not to mention the stack old personal art work stored in old portfolios, from teen years to the present, and old artwork, VHS tapes, and saved materials from the TV shows, and other projects, I worked on. So, at this stage in my life I realize I'm not a collector, of anything (I never was really), I'm a ACCUMULATOR of STUFF! Some personal, have professional, mostly fun, and more just plain odd. I've started weeding out stuff when I moved recently. But, a lot of old stuff actually traveled from east coast, to west coast, and back again, just because I couldn't throw it away. Enough is enough!

The line "...my clock is in the red", alway stuck with me. It seems to say how can you move forward when your dragging that old stuff behind you. So, I'm going to start getting rid of stuff. Some it will end up on Ebay, as part of the world greatest garage sale (hopely to pay for new updated stuff, like a new computer, HD TV and PS3, if I'm lucky). Other items will be in the family's spring garage sale. And, lastly some will end up in the garbage. But go it will. I don't intent to end up like those people who die and are found among floor to ceiling piles of old newspapers and magazines. I plan to at least clear spot so I can fall to the floor. (Also, my sweet wife assures me she'll have no second thoughts about dumping all of my stuff in the trash. She's not a pack-rat like me, by any means)

So, if you so inclined check my ebay store, Dragonfly Emporium page from time to time, you might pick up a cool item or two.

Happy New Year, everyone.