The Search for the Golden Job (Part 2)

Its been a few weeks since my last posting and I've been waiting to write until there was something to follow up upon job-wise. Well, since last post I have gotten one reply from all the jobs I applied for. which sucks balls quite frankly. Party City called to see if I was interested and I declined. Lindsey got the same reply back and decided to take the position. I decided to look elsewhere. I have since been looking into doing web design for freelance work. It may not be a steady job, but it could get me by until something else comes my way. I have about 6 clients I have e-mailed and already scored one job so far.

Last Thursday, Lindsey and I welcomed our first new family member.
She's a brand new beagle puppy we christened "Penny Lane." The last 5
days have been a crash course in how to raise a puppy with most of the
responsibility on my shoulders. I've been cleaning up poop and pee
while training little Penny how to "stay". Did I mention that I've
never taken care of/let alone train a new puppy before. Yeah, that
was quite an experience so far. Lots of sleep lost and running around
trying to make sure Penny doesn't get into trouble (like when she got
stuck behind the fridge) or pee and poop on the carpet. We've since
taken Penny to Lindsey's mom in Jax who can better train her while I'm
in PA and Lindsey's at work over the next 3 weeks. We are currently
enjoying a sound night sleep lol.

On Friday I depart for Pa for 2 weeks to see the family and friends. and then its off to Bonnaroo with Linds!!

Here's some artwork I recently created to sell at Bonnaroo. If you're interested in getting a copy of any of these, let me know and I'm hook you up! :)



I also have a John Lennon one I like a lot that I haven't photographed yet. More to come soon!

Also check out my website that I'm near completing:
http://webspace.ringling.edu/~jfisher1

The Search for the Golden Job (Part 1)

Wow. First Year at Ringling-Done. After a full week of final projects and tests, I'm done. Now I'm off to my next challenge. My Mom and I decided that would be more cost effective to stay in the Sarasota area and to look for a job here rather than come back to PA.

Over the past 3 days, Lindsey and I have been all over Bradenton and Sarasota looking for a job. We have been in talks with this group YEA!, that go to out in the community to teach art. We haven't heard back from the lady yet though. Here's a list of some of the other amazing places we filled out applications for:
-Best Buy
-Circuit City
-Hollywood Video
-Petsmart (Linds)
-Blockbuster
-local Movie Theater (Linds)
-Party City cashier

We have not heard back from any of these places yet, but I'm crossing my fingers for the Best Buy job, its the least suckiest of the bunch.
If you've never had the monumental task of applying for a mediocre job, imagine the SATs where you fill in all the personal info that doesn't count. Now repeat that 6 or 7 times. now write down your past job history 6 or 7 times. And finally, take a bunch of long surveys that asks you how you interact with people.

And still, you may not get even one call back.

Anyways, my Mom came in to visit while we were in Jacksonville meeting Lindsey's mom for her graduation. We had a ton of fun and my Mom finally got to see the new Student Center and help me pack up for the summer.

Its Almost over!

Yayy!! No more school soon!! (for 4 months). I don't think I have had a more stressful and productive week ever. I took the Animation history test (after studying for a week) and got a B which is freaking awesome for a class I was worried of failing. I also finished my first walk cycle and completed a self-portrait I'm really proud of. The video is an early unfinished version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy9e3f-XOw8




I also found a job for the summer working for the Yea arts program down in Sarasota where I'l get the chance to teach art to community youth groups. Annd This weekend its off to Jacksonville to celebrate Lindsey's Mom's graduation. Oh, and I can't wait for Bonnaroo!!!

New Animation and Still Life

For this animation, we took the character designs from the last project (Bugsby at left) and designed a jump for our animal. After about 3 weeks a a lot of headaches, I finally got mine completed. Here ya go:

(note: In the first few seconds, you'll notice that the arms don't match up completely with the body, which is because it was done on a separate layer and animated afterward. Also known as a secondary animation.)

Here's a new figure study:

Go See Grindhouse. Now!!

The other night, Lindsey and I took a break from our mounting amounts of homework to see the double feature Tarantino/Rodriguez flick(s) Grindhouse. I was originally reluctant to see such a film after learning that it was 3 hours long, but decided to go in hopes that it was something fun and different.
As you may or may not have heard, Grindhouse consists of two features Planet Terror (Rodrigues) and Death Proof (Tarantino). Before Planet Terror starts, a set of fake movie trailers play which let you know that this isn't the 21st century anymore. To push the feel of 70's grindhouse b-movies, both of the films have added film graininess, along with skipping audio, missing scenes, pops, and other film aging effects. It really feels like you stepped into another era of film making, thanks to these tricks.

Planet Terror plot sounds like any old campy b-movie. Military experiment gone wrong, mutants/zombies attacking a small town, a rag-tag group of survivors, so much gore that its unbelievable, and so on. What Rodriguez brings to the plate is the ability of the film to laugh at itself and its genre. Every line delivered is over the top, every action sequence is filled with impossible moments that make you think, "hey, wait! that could never happen!) But thats where the fun is, the movie is so over the top with action, gore, sex, and camp, that it just begs to be laughed at.

Death Proof is slightly different, but its still pure Tarantino. The story is more of along the lines of a pure car chase/action/revenge movie of the '70's, but still over the top with the action. My only gripe of the night was with this movie. Along with a Tarantino style, you get his style of dialogue. This is where the Grindhouse gets long. If you took out half of the talking out of Death Proof, you wouldn't miss it. Much like Pulp Fiction, the dialogue is off topic and is solely there to help flesh out the characters. Once those scenes end, the film picks up speed (bad pun) and keeps you at the edge of your seat for the rest of the ride.
Grindhouse is a rare breed of film; unashamed to laugh at itself, gore for the fun of it, action for the fun of it, campy-ness for authenticity...its all there. This has to be some of the most fun I've had at a movie theater. My mouth hung open during some of the fake movie trailers due to the absurdity of some of the ideas. (The horror/slasher flick preview, Thanksgiving, was my favorite. "White meat, dark meat...all will be carved...") Because of the nature and style of the films, it most likely wont transition well over to DVD. Seeing it in the theater gives it the full effect. Go see it before its too late! Trust me on this, you won't be disappointed.
5/5 stars

Happy Easter Jesus!

As it was Easter Sunday today, I thought it would be a good time to reference the recent ongoing controversy over the "My Sweet Lord" sculpture by Cosimo Cavallaro.

In case, you haven't heard, artist Cosimo Cavallaro recently created a sculpture of Jesus Christ completely out of chocolate. It was supposed to be featured in the exhibit at the Lab Gallery inside midtown Manhattan's Roger Smith Hotel. The exhibit happens to fall on the time between Good Friday and Easter. After Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, heard about it, he took action, calling for a boycott of the hotel. After the hotel was flooded by angry telephone calls and e-mails about the exhibit, they are have since canceled the exhibit.

Here's a clip of Mr. Donohue and Mr. Cavallio on a news program discussing their opposing views. Things kinda turn ugly towards the end and then you really see who the mature one is.

"This is one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever," said Bill Donohue. "It's not just the ugliness of the portrayal, but the timing -- to choose Holy Week is astounding."

Here's my view on the issue. Easter is a holiday originally celebrating the resurrection of Jesus after his death by crucifixion. Today, besides the church services that take place, Easter is a holiday for children to hunt for colorful eggs filled with candy, that were hidden by an "Easter Bunny." Along with this theme comes Easter bonnets, baskets, peeps, and chocolate bunnies to eat. This seems like it should be the "worst assault on Christian sensibility," not a chocolate Jesus. What Cavallio seems to be saying to me in this piece is that Easter should truly be about Jesus and not imaginary bunnies and baskets. What if instead of chocolate bunnies, we got chocolate jesus? That would be a start to redirect where the focus of Easter should be.
On the artistic side of this, did Cavallio make you feel any emotion (did you get mad or upset?) or provoke thought after you saw this piece? Sometimes a piece of art is created to make people think about the things they hold sacred. After all the attention Cavallio has received for this piece, I believe he was successful. Had Bill Donohue payed no mind to this piece, it would have been way less publicized and no one would have known or cared.

Of Montreal rocks Jacksonville

Last Sunday, Lindsey and I were in Jacksonville and went to see Of Montreal at Freebirds Live. I originally bought the tickets back in January for Lindsey's birthday, as luck had it, I accidentally left them at her place when we traveled to Jacksonville. Lindsey's mom was nice enough to pay for two more tickets.

So we get to the venue and wait for about an hour in the cold to get in. Of the two opening bands, only Pigeon John is worth mentioning. Accompanied by a synthesizer and drums, Mr. John kept the rhymes light and upbeat, while throwing in a bit of humor into the show.
After the first act, Lindsey wasn't feeling well, so we sat the second act out. From what we could hear, Loney, Dear wasn't anything special. About 2 hours into the show, Of Montreal took the stage.

Its really hard in today's music scene to be edgy and innovative with live music. Almost anything a band can think of usually has already been done before and better by another artist. Of Montreal succeeded in being edgy, twisted, and innovative with the mix of theatrics and stage presence. If you combine one part Ziggy Stardust, one part Kiss, and two parts of The Beatles, and a pinch of The Cure, and stir vigorously, you may get something like performance of Of Montreal(or some hideous lab experiment) . Lead singer Kevin Barnes seemed to channel David Bowie that night throughout his outrageous costume changes and stage antics. The rest of the band were covered with bright colors, glitter, ruffles, and other glamorous outfits. After they took the stage, it was clear that this band was going to be different.


Between brandishing a samurai sword and being carried around by a mime-like guy in a white full-body leotard(seriously), Kevin Barnes kept the crowd guessing what he was was going to surprise them with next. Of Montreal played a good mix of classic hits and songs from the new album. Besides a few lame drunk chicks spilling drinks and being obnoxious, we had a really good time. During the encore, they did a terrific rendition of two David Bowie songs. Kevin's voice lends itself really well to Bowie's style. I will eagerly awaiting them to play another show in the future.

more pictures

Happy April Fools Day!

I found a list online of the Top 100 April Fools pranks. Check it out:
Top 100 April Fools Pranks
Apparantly Facebook is offering to send someone out to poke you and they're calling it "Live Poke."
Google is offering up a new service called Google TiSP (Toilet Internet Service Provider ). It involves sending fiber optics through the septic system for free. You can even sign up for it now! ;)

Has anyone ever tried the Serran wrap on the toilet? That one's a winner every time.

5 Videos You Need To See, Of Montreal update, +new artwork

Here's 5 videos I've found recently that definitely need to be viewed:
#1 A Hard Day's Night Of The Living Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIWsMKZt3Eg

#2 Its just Like a Mini mall! (Worst Commercial Ever?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiHaqCFQLxA
#3 Amazing Animation On Whiteboard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u46eaeAfeqw
#4 Another Amazing Animation using simple gifs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6WyqIsxexo
#5 Awesome Of Montreal Music Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8cCPH1qnYI


Lindsey and I traveled to Jacksonville for the weekend to visit her family and go to the Of Montreal show tonight. One interesting note: we got all packed the night before and then we left for Jacksonville from Ringling after I got out of work. We were about 4 hours into the trip and then Lindsey realized "We forgot the tickets!!" Yep, we left the tickets at her place on her dresser. Lindsey's mom was so nice though and helped pay for 2 more tickets. So we're set for tonight.

Here's my latest character design for my traditional animation class. I randomly picked a beetle/bug out of a hat. And this is what I came up with:














I was really happy how Bugsby the Beetle turned out. After this, I'm working on doing a "simple" jump with my character. Its really not that simple though. I'll post some more when I get working on it.

Cats Hate People

So for the past week or so Lindsey and I have become the care takers of Java the cat. Not to be confused with Jabba the Hutt... or Pizza the Hutt. Anyways, I'm sure if you've grown up with Java, she's a lovely cat. Problem for me is that I'm not a pet person to begin with, (and allergic as well) That being said, Java is having a lovely time at the Gilbert residence; a lazy, lazy, residence. I'm not going to waste anyone's time with the cat's shortcomings because frankly, she's a cat. Java isn't human, so I wont put her up to any human standards. I'll put it like this, it hasn't helped my appreciation of cats very much. Now on to a non-cat subject.

This sunday Lindsey and I are going to finally see Of Montreal live and I can't wait! Lots of pictures to ensue.


Lindsey just picked up the new Arcade Fire album "Neon Bible and I have to say that its lives up to all the hype and anticipation that it has received. I had previously had heard and loved the songs called "Intervention" and "No Cars Go." The rest of the album follows suit. If you like Arcade Fire before, you'll really like Neon Bible.

Here's some pictures of some work I've been doing as of late.

HELP. Stuck in Office. Can't breath. Walls. Closing in.

I'm currently working right now as the receptionist for the Job department of Ringling. (go figure, my first job is working at a place that deals with Jobs). Anyways, still on my spring break. If you can call it that considering I'm on campus right now. I get the amazing oportunity to work a double shift because the person working after me is busy with a project. I agreed to do it because of the sweet sweet minimum wage.

List of things I've done wrong today:

1. called Pat "Barb"
2. called Barb "Pat"
3. Didn't know the new person in the office and told someone on the phone that they had the wrong number
4. Completely fucked up a transfer call and had to go running back to grab someone to fix it.
5. had Barb come to the Lobby when I was supposed to get Pat.
6. The list goes on...

I still have another 45 minutes to go...

In other news, I had a great time camping with Lindsey overnight. We're getting Lindsey's friend Nicole's cat for a week on Saturday. That should be interesting.

Does anyone else think spring break went by too fast??

Spring Breaking

Today Lindsey and I are going camping for a night, out in the Bradenton wilderness during our spring break. I haven't gone camping since boy scouts and she hasn't been out in the woods since she was little. There's a lake and a hiking trail and we're gonna do s'mores and hot dogs over a fire! Lots of low tech fun.

Here's some pics from the beach from a couple days ago:

Love me, Hair-do!

Not much to update for this weekend, biggest news being that I finally got the nerve to get a haircut.

Found this awesome link to see just how crazy/awesome the Japanese can be.
Top 12 Weird Japanese Inventions.

For class I've been working on this new poster project for Communication Design. We have to make up a movie idea and design a poster for it. I decided to go with the 1950s Sci Fi "B" movie theme. The name of my ficticious movie is "NUCLEAR CREATURE FROM SPACE COLONY 5." I'd want to go see it.

<- here's what it looks like so far (just some perliminary sketches)



Also, I changed the title layout of my blog. Let me know what you think!

My latest animation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuQlBzYCgpQ

Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Bonnaroo and Living Arrangements

So this week I went ahead and bought my ticket to the best concert(s) ever. I'm so excited because I know that no matter who's playing, its guaranteed to be amazing. It doesn't hurt that the Flaming Lips, Regina Spektor, Girl Talk, The Decemberist, among others, will be performing (with more to come!) Lindsey bought her ticket soon afterward. :)

This week I also finalized my living arrangements for next year, which was quite the headache. I was the only one on time to claim a space out of the 4 of us. The plan is me and 3 other guys sharing a dorm space with a central living room/kitchen and get this...my own room! I can't wait.

I finished my flour sack animation and my john wayne gacy coloring book (its not as sick as you may think), and they were both well received. I'll post them here soon.

Deerhoof Show At the Crow Bar 2/18

Went to the Crow Bar in Tampa last Sunday with Jay and saw Deerhoof. I really wasn't sure what to expect, because I am a fairly recent fan of the band and have not heard about how they are at playing live.
When we finally found the club, we waited for about an hour for the first band, The Harlem Shakes, to take the stage. I haven't seen a band ever take so long to do sound check. Once they were done getting ready, they were pretty good, they sounded like a cross between Clap Your Hands meets Interpol meets The Strokes. They had alot of energy, but I wont be buying any of their albums from what I saw.
Next up was Busdriver, a hiphop act featuring a guy spitting out lyrics so fast they were almost incoherent and a skinny white guy doing insane beats. This act was the surprise of the night. Busdriver was loud, fast, funny, and unapologetic. He got the whole crowd jumping and singing the choruses of songs 90% of the kids there had never heard before, which was very impressive.
Finally, Deerhoof took the stage and delivered an amazing performance. Lead singer/bassest Satomi Matsuzaki sang more as instrument then actual lyrics. The drums were almost tribal sounding at times and like a drum machine at others. The guitar stayed pretty close to the album material, but sometimes sped up the sound or slowed it down which was nice. There was also this crazy windmill contraption that kept the audience mesmerized with the rainbow LEDs that spun and changed colors in conjunction with the music. Jay and I got to meet the guitarist after the show and he talked about being influnenced by Sonic Youth and what he thought about Animal Collective. I was really happy I got a chance to see these guys live and I'll be sure to see them again if I ever get the chance.

I'm Pretty Sure Hallmark is Behind V-day

Its only 1 in the morning, but it still counts as officially being Valentine's Day. I got a great afternoon planned for Lindsey. Most of which I can't mention until after she gets to see everything. Afterwards, we're going to see a showing of the low budget breakout, Four-Eyed Monster in Orlando.

I finally got everything worked out with my rooming situation next year. I'm staying on campus in a 4 person doorm with...my own room! I'm excited.


Sunday I'm going to see Deerhoof with my friend Jay. I'm not sure what to expect, but I think it will be insane. Deerhoof's music is from another planet and I hope there live show is no different.

Been working on Lindsey's website recently and finally got it online. You can check the progress here:

The listing of artists performing at Bonnaroo was recently leaked and posted on http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com/2007/02/leaked-bonnaroo-lineup.html

I'm pretty stoked about seeing Flaming Lips, The Decemberists, Regina Spektor, Girl Talk, among others, all in one place. Now if I could just aquire the fundss...

Here's a still life I forgot to post last time. It was a pile of random items we had to paint to gauge where we all were. Sorry about the quality, it was taken with a camera phone.