We have been Googled

Google is diligently expanding the reach of it's Google Street initiative, which recently became part of Google Maps. When we were virtually browsing around the hood we stumbled upon... ourselves.

The link below shows the street view of Sony Pictures Imageworks, and we were not a little surprised to see our car (nick named the White Elephant by Roger) in it. Telling from the construction work going on on the Culver Studios Lot this pictures must have been captured the latest sometime around june.

Here is the link: maps.google.com

CNN: Beowulf: A beast in 3D

CNN features Beowulf.

Ancient literature meets the future of filmmaking in "Beowulf," a 3D spectacle using the latest technology.

The featurette
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/11/22/3d.beowulf/

The video:
http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/screening.room/

Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Beowulf?

Michael Harrison judging Beowulf myth incarnation on their kid-friendlyness....

Errrr...?

http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2007/12/whos-afraid-of.html

12 Animated Features Submitted for 2007 Oscar® Consideration

http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2007/07.11.08a.html

Thumbs up for Surf's Up and Beowulf!

Beverly Hills, CA — Twelve features have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 80th Academy Awards®.

The 12 submitted features are:

“Alvin and the Chipmunks”

“Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters”

“Bee Movie”

“Beowulf”

“Meet the Robinsons”

“Persepolis”

“Ratatouille”

“Shrek the Third”

“The Simpsons Movie”

“Surf’s Up”

“Tekkonkinkreet”

“TMNT”

“Alvin and the Chipmunks,” “Beowulf” and “Persepolis” have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run. The submitted features must fulfill the general release requirements and meet all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process.

Under the rules for this category, a maximum of 3 films can be nominated in a year in which the field of eligible entries numbers at least 8 but fewer than 16.

Films submitted in the Animated Feature Film category also may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories.

The 80th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2007 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT.

Planktoninvasion

Some upcomming animation work from Belgium! Always great to see! I am very curious.

Here is the synopsis:

Earth's first life forms and direct descendant's from the primal soup; want to reclaim their rightful place in the world. In order for them to re-conquer the planet, they need a global water world. They plotted a dark strategy and assigned a special task force to execute the operation; codename 'Global Warming'. No matter how microscopic in size, despite the insignificance of their actions, the fact they never conquer more than a dozen square meters beach or the mind blowing stupidity of their reasoning, they blindly believe in the success of their mission!
This is the never-ending story of Plankton Invasion.

http://www.planktoninvasion.com

Beowulf TV commercial

Pretty unique way of advertising the upcomming movie Beowulf... Beowulf vs 300 (Sparta) in a shout contest (http://www.beowulfmovie.com)

over Surfende penguins en passeieren

Na lang wachten komt deze woensdag 24 oktober Surf's Up in de Belgische cinemazalen. Voor zij die gaan kijken is het misschien leuk om te weten dat er een aantal easter eggs in de film verborgen zitten.

Zoals programmeurs easter eggs verstoppen in software (virtual easter egg: Wikipedia), zo verstopt het filmmakende volkje ook van alles in de beelden die ze maken. In het geval van Surf's Up is het een UFO geworden 4 keer heel kort in beeld verschijnt.

Next one up: Beowulf

Since I finished working on Surf's Up I started working on Beowulf. In contrast to Surf's Up, which is an animated cgi (computer generated imagery) feature film, Beowulf is full cgi but not animated. Beowulf is using a process called performance capture: real actors wear a special suit with trackers stuck on it and act every shot. In addition to the track markers on the suit a maze of smaller markers (called beads) are glued on the actors face to capture the facial expressions.

Below is an example of a motion capture session. Unfortunately not one with Angelina Jolie, that is classified information, for Imageworkers' eyes only ;).
This session is actually from The Matrix.



Beowulf's cgi looks realistic in contrast to stylized or cartoony cgi (for example Surf's Up or Ratatouille). Sometimes realistic enough to make people believe that what they see is live action.

Beowulf is directed by Robert Zemeckis, who's know for Forest Gump for which he won an Oscar for best director, Back to future, Cast Away, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Lift to name a few.

The actors line up includes:
Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone, Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich

Beowulf is closed to being finished and sheduled for theatrical release November 16, 2007

It will for sure spark lots of discussions about the movie making process. I would love to hear what you think of it.

Penguins everywhere!

DSC01919.jpg
Originally uploaded by wineytoe

Invasion of the penguins!

Surf's up (www.surfsup.be) is releasing in Belgian theatres on October 24. Go check it out! And here is some good advice when you leave the parking lot afterwards!

No water, No work

Today was an unexpected day off. When I arrive at work it was busier than usual around the premisses and in the garden of the studio. Lot's of people hanging out, chatting at an early hour that is usually packed with dailies, touchbase meetings, rounds, and what not.

When I got to my desk I noticed it was slightly hotter in side than normal. Got to my email to find a zillion of mails, with alaring titles like network branch down, filer pegged, database server shutdown, Culver City water pressure issue, restrooms out of order, cue taken offline, AC capacity reduced, ...

What is going on? Scrolling all the way down I read that it all began with some construction work going on in Culvercity. Someone had hit a main tube of the watersystem, which burst, causing the waterpressure to drop to a very low level over big parts of the city. First thoughts...fine... no water... that's not too bad. We are not cooking, nor brewing coffee (at least not professionally), we are a hightech company. Electricty loss would be bad.... NOT!

The sudden los in waterpressure made the airconditionning system fail. That had to be reduced in power and eventually be shut down. Still, we can work in an environment that is a few degrees hotter than usual... but wait... what about the cooling of the machine room? No cooling, means that servers, filers, routers and renderracks had to be shut down. First partially, soon pretty much all of them. There number, we are talking about thousands of computers in a confined space, makes that they produce so much heat that if they wouldn't actively be cooled, they would fail because the heat. Talking about a melt down...

They brought in huge watertrucks and a number of portable toilets (the type that is used on events). Everyone was told they could leave till 13.00 When we came back, workstations were still hung, files unaccessible, email down. A few hours later the first systems were brought back online. Limited capacity. Movies that are near their deadlines (we are talking a few weeks) get priority. We got to go home. Our systems wouldn't be fully operational before the next day. No high tech without low tech. But we enjoyed the time off. That's for sure.

Drama in the high skies

Drama in the high skies
Originally uploaded by _esse

Dramatic skies over West-Hollywood this weekend as a storm front moved over the Southland. First time we witness a night's long worth of rain.

High contrast weather
Originally uploaded by _esse

Like everything in Hollywood the weather is high contrast too once in a while. This weekend it was pouring down, quickly followed up by sun piercing through open cloudless patches.

Diesel Look le plus cool 2

More cool looks by Diesel. Stardust! Stardust!

Diesel le look le plus cool.

A classic ad from a while back. Diesel Jeans.



Diesel for succesfull living. (of course!)

Architectural Californication

http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/09/07/prefab-friday-mdesigns-mcube-green-home-1/

Evert 'pikt' zijn cadeau op...

Subservient Evert
Originally uploaded by _esse

Vorige vrijdag kwamen Evert-Jan en Marjan langs om Evert's afscheidscadeau van de Duval Guillaume E collega's op te 'pikken'.

Het object in kwestie belandde via een Ebay veiling vanuit Florida bij ons en geraakt niet meer op tijd in Brussel voor Evert's afscheidsfeest. Geen nood echter, EJ en Marjan hadden een roadtrip door California gepland die hen tot in Los Angeles zou brengen.

Hier staat het origineel: http://www.subservientchicken.com/

Subservient Evert
Originally uploaded by _esse

en Marjan ziet hem ook zo graag...

Subservient Evert
Originally uploaded by _esse

de eerste instructies worden prompt opgevolgd.... was da hier voor een kiekenskot

Beowulf on the X-games

attachment
Originally uploaded by netposer

IMG_4696
Originally uploaded by Don Reno

IMG_4600
Originally uploaded by Don Reno

IMG_4593
Originally uploaded by Don Reno

Beowulf trailer is out.

Here it is, the long awaited trailer of Beowulf. The movie is directed by Oscar winning George Zcemicks and stars Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, amongst others. It is the second project I worked on at Sony Pictures Imageworks. I will tell a bit more about the unique process that was used to create this movie in the near future. Enjoy the trailer...

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/beowulf/

and more goodies on the official Beowulf site: http://www.beowulfmovie.com

Jaw-dropping Photosynth demo

You got to see this. An great example that computer graphics technology is not only affecting our lives when we go to the movies or play computer games.

Watch this technology demo:

And try for yourself after that (only works on Windows XP or Vista unfortunately). You need to install an browser extension, but it is well worth it.

http://labs.live.com/photosynth/

iGot iPhone

at least the tshirt ;)
Plenty of those around!

Cheap flights!

No idea what this should be categorized as, sky surfing or kite diving? Spectacular nevertheless. Don't try this at home kids!

I am legend : currently in the (Image)works

The last man on earth (played by Will Smith) is not alone...

Imageworks is creating some stunning imagery for this spectacular movie.

check out the trailer on:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/iamlegend/large.html

and find all details about the movie on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480249/

Kitesurfing 101 : what NOT to do...

A display of utter stupidity and hybris. No one should try kite surfing without proper instruction. From what these guys display they haven't heard of the basics of kitesurfing, let alone mastered them. Hot launching a kite in 60 Miles Per Hour winds is suicidal.

Pixar unveils latest project

'Up' scheduled for 2009

By BEN FRITZ

Disney-owned toon studio Pixar will release 'Up,' about a 70-year-old man who fights beasts and villains, in 2009.

Pixar is going a little older in 2009 than its typical demo.

The Disney-owned toon studio's release that year will be "Up," about a 70-year-old man who teams with a wilderness ranger to fight beasts and villains.

"Monsters, Inc." director Pete Docter is helming.

Pixar vet Bob Peterson is writing the script and will co-direct.

Monday's announcement fills in the remaining gap in the animation powerhouse's sked through 2010. After this month's "Ratatouille," it will release "Wall*E" next summer and "Toy Story 3" in summer 2010.

Its sibling Disney Animation Studios, also overseen by Mouse House toon toppers Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, is set to release "American Dog" next year and in 2009 "Frog Princess," its first hand-drawn pic since 2004.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117966684.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Stop it! Please!

This is a plea to stop watching, reading and listening to any so called 'news' about the lightheaded hotel heiress which name I will not say out loud.
The news, which isn't really nothing more than a meaningless series of faits divers. Since 6 o'clock this morning at at least 4 helicopters have continiously been hovering over the Hollywood Hills. Waking up thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people.

Apparently the subject of their quest for 'news' is PH's release from LA county jail. To be honest, I don't care what they are after. They should NOT be allowed at all to hover over the city at all.

Anyways, the only way to make them go away is to stop paying the least of attention to news about meaningless creatures like the above mentioned.

If you need some diversion, look in your close neighbourhood, I am sure there are some testosteron and oestrogen fueled teens around you. Most likely they are on tighter budgets than P, which makes them far more creative and interesting in their acts to draw attention.

PARIS IS BORING AS HELL!

Surf's Up : A Major Ocean Picture

Surf's Up : A Major Ocean Picture
Originally uploaded by _esse

I will let the picture speak for itself...

This weekend everyone who is in the credits get's to invite up to 6 guests to see the movie at Imageworks. We invited Kurt, Nele, Matisse and Margot to accomagnie us to the Sunday 10 am screening. In the afternoon we have our last kite surf lesson with Alex.

As of friday June 8 it opens accros the United States.

Surf's Up is in town

...and everyone will know about it!

Surf's Up
Originally uploaded by _esse

The heat is on, or in this particular case, we might say the tide is high. A giant marketing campagign for Surf's Up is rolling over the city. Banners on public transportation, posters in busstops, billboards along every major boulevard and highway, banners towed by airplanes over California's coastline and some giant prints on landmark buildings throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area create awareness in every living souls mind. The flick premieres June 8th in the US.

We have been taking some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/esse/sets/72157600284895513/

More to come...

Sky Typing

We were in Long Beach taking our first kite surf lesson when all of a sudden this appeared in the sky.

Sky Typing
Originally uploaded by _esse.

A great new way to get your message out: take it to the sky. Fly a number of planes in parallel to each other and emit vapor puffs in a dot matrix pattern.
These puffs are regulated by an onboard computer that controls the sequencing of the vapor to form the letters in the sky.
Simple, yet sofisticated!

A few more pictues:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/esse/497563155/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/esse/497561341/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/esse/497560277/

www.skytypers.com

Spiderman 3 breaks all boxoffice records

Domestic - 151,116,516 million $
International - 231 million $

a total of Worldwide - 382 million total.

Numbers that stick. A lot of happy faces at Sony :)

Joshua Tree + road to Grand Canyon (roadtrip day 4)

Pictures of last summers roadtrip day 4 online. Joshua Tree + road to Grand Canyon.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/esse/sets/72157600172366327/

New Surf's Up trailer availabe on Apple Quicktime trailers

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/surfsup/trailer_high.html

Seaworld pictures online

Pictures of our visit to Seaworld on day 3 of our roadtrip last summer are online. As always served on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/esse/sets/72157600054463794/

Yves Rossy - the real Swiss Batman

"Always have a plan B ready"

http://www.jet-man.com/actuel_eng.html

Surf's Up : new trailer in HD premieres on Movie Phone

Movie Phone http://movies.aol.com/movie/surfs-up/20497/main has premiered the new trailer. It will also be available in a lot of other channels (and at higher res) soon.

Surf's Up : site update

The official website for the movie has been updated with lots cool new stuff. Try the lava tube game!

http://www.surfsup.com/

'Surf's Up' rides a penguin wave

Article in USAToday:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-03-05-surfs-up_N.htm#none

First there were marching penguins, then they sang and danced. In June, they will surf.

After Happy Feet's Oscar win for best animated feature and 2005's smash documentary March of the Penguins, does the world really need another penguin movie?

Yes, say the people behind Surf's Up, an animated comedy due June 8 that explores the world of competitive surfing, penguin-style.

"It's clear to us that people love penguins," says Surf's Up producer Chris Jenkins.

Jeff Bridges, the voice of Big Z, a reclusive washed-up surf champ, sees definite potential: "Maybe the penguin wave is still cresting."

So, are penguins officially the new dogs?

"Yes, I have one at home, as a matter of fact," Jenkins jokes. But seriously, "people love penguins, and I'm not worried about what's come before."

Surf's Up riffs on the Christopher Guest-style of mock documentary. It may be the Spinal Tap of penguin cinema.

"People are ready for the idea of fusing animation with reality programming and improvisational performances," Jenkins says.

Some of the most memorable animated performances — think Robin Williams in Aladdin — were improvised, and Surf's Up hopes to continue that wave.

Shia LaBeouf is the voice of teenage penguin Cody Maverick, a passionate surfer entering his first competition. A camera crew is following him and filming his experiences as he meets a wacky crew of surf nuts along the way: Chicken Joe (Jon Heder), surf promoter Reggie Belafonte (James Woods) and lifeguard Lani (Zooey Deschanel). Cody is all about winning until he meets Big Z and realizes a winner doesn't necessarily get the top prize.

Bridges, who channels a bit of The Dude from The Big Lebowski, relished the improv: "You do it as it's written, then you just jam."

Plus, "I've been surfing since I was in high school, and they captured a great mixture of the real and idealized feeling of what it's like."

more than $100 million in support for Surf's Up!

Tie-ins: Surf's Up, And So Is Sony's Penguin Romp

Studio's second computer animated flick gets $100M-plus in support.

February 26, 2007
By Becky Ebenkamp

Riding the CGI wave, Sony Pictures Animation is gearing up about a dozen partners in its promotional pipeline for its sophomore effort, Surf's Up.

McDonald's, Old Navy, ConAgra Foods, Baskin-Robbins, Sea World and others are on board for an effort that will see more than $100 million in media spending to hype the film, which opens June 8 and follows the studio's maiden CGI, Open Season.

In its first deal with Sony after the end of its exclusive 10-year promotional partnership with Disney, McD's will give Surf's Up a heads-up with TV advertising, in-store signage and, of course, Happy Meal premiums. As the global QSR partner, Surf's Up will be promoted at 32,000 McDonald's locations in 119 countries.

Many partners will play off surf lingo in their executions. Baskin-Robbins will invite consumers to "Catch the Wave to Big Prizes" in two TV spots for a sweepstakes (prizes TBD) and a Surf's Up Splish Splash sherbet that resembles a blue and white wave. A B-R mobile tour also will screen the movie's scenes.

Aside from the obvious tie to family brands (McDonald's) and penguin pros (Sea World, which is branding its San Diego park's penguin exhibit with the film this summer), Sony sought hot and/or cold positioned partners to play into Surf's Up's range of weather locations: The film begins in arctic Shiverpool and washes up at the Polynesian Pen Gu Island. For instance, first-timer Kold To Go Bags will tap the Shiverpool imagery and characters on its insulated thermal bags used for transporting such grocery items as ice cream. "We're able to use the water and temperature and environment thematically in our partnerships," said Mary Goss Robino, svp-global marketing partnerships for Sony's Columbia TriStar Marketing. "Some partners played off the surf thematic, but we saw [additional] opportunities."

Many partnerships are new for Sony, and align with the studio's strategy of serving up nonplundered product categories, such as Wonder Bread for last summer's Talladega Nights.

"When this film came up, we thought this was adequately quirky for us—Old Navy is sort of a quirky brand in terms of personality," said Kristin Petersen, vp-brand exposure and promotions at Gap Inc. Old Navy will promote its Surf's Up relationship in shops, online and circulars, and also is a licensee (T-shirts and flip-flops for boys, girls and toddlers). Promotionally, it's the kitschy value chain's first partnership with a major studio flick.

Surf's Up, which chronicles how penguins invented the sport of surfing, has a mockumentary narrative in ode to such surfing docs as Riding Giants and Step Into Liquid, and diverse animation styles, such as faux grainy, B&W newsreel footage of seminal surfers "hanging six." Shia LaBeouf voices up-and-coming surfer Cody Maverick, the central character. Jon Heder, Zooey Deschanel and Jeff Bridges (as burnout beachcomber The Geek, roughly based on The Big Lebowski's "The Dude") round out the talent.

ConAgra is getting behind the wave with three of its brands—Act II popcorn, Crunch 'n Munch and Kid Cuisine—to get more shelf space and create retailer interest. Each product line will use movie art on packaging and direct shoppers to a virtual scratch-and-win game that will award 2,000 movie-themed prizes. Kid Cuisine will additionally develop two promotional Surf's Up SKUs of its meals, a mac n cheese featuring Cody and Chicken Joe pasta, and chicken nuggets pressed into seashell shapes. A pudding comes with sprinkles that change the color to sea blue.

"We try to make these meals as interactive as possible," said Lisa McAvoy, associate integrated marketing manager for ConAgra's Kid Cuisine and Marie Callender's frozen foods. "If it's fun and keeps the kids busy, mom is happy." The SKUs hit shelves in May and will be supported with advertising on kids TV, in-pack collector cards, store signage and FSIs.

Candy partner Airheads will launch a New Wave flavor and support it on TV, the Web, in stores, and on and in-pack, while the National Frozen and Refrigerated Assn. will use Surf's Up characters to promote its June Dairy Month at retail.

Grocery chains such as Safeway (1,600 stores) will feature key art on bags and offer free movie tickets with a minimum store purchase. The promo runs through June and July and will be touted at retail, online and via circulars. While that promo has a seasonal window, many partners are expected to follow through to the DVD release.

*Find this article at:*
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003550016

Catalina Island camping trip pictures online

sunset
Originally uploaded by _esse.

Pictures of our Catalina Islands camping trip in september 2006 are online. Check them out on Flickr

Green laser pens are... awesome (?)

Pretty crazy...

Gaming reinvented

Last night was Wii night. We gathered with a bunch in front of Jason's big ass TV for a round of games. First we played Wii-sports followed bij WarioWare and Rayman Ravin Rabbids.

The Wii doesn't sport the computing power of the Playstation 3 nor the Xbox360, the graphics are rather simple. None of that degrades the gaming experience, the Wii's revolutionary and versatile interface drags anyone, take anyone literally, into it's games. To put it simple it captures motion, forcing the player to mimic real life moves to get around in a virtual world. If you serve in tennis, you throw your arm holding the controller in the air as if it was a racket, when you bowl you strike a pose you would only strike on a bowling alley. That's how real it gets, that's how grandparents get addicted and children neglected. I was warned by my collegues, and I can only confirm: even people adverse to gaming will surrender to the Wii's gameply. Way to go Nintendo!

Find out more on the official site: http://www.wii.com

For those that haven't seen all the fun yet, here are a couple of movies:

Dynamite Surfing

A new way of surfing. Don' try this at home kids. This clip immediately sparked a lively discussion 'real' versus 'fake'.

I ran into Jeff Bridges today.

When returning from the vending machine after getting my morning frappucino I ran into a dude with long hair comming out of the elevator close to my desk. "How do I get to the main lobby from here?". "Well, carry on and take a right after the first door at the end of the hall..." - wait a minute - "...way" - I know you. You are Jeff Bridges... hmmm... makes sense... Jeff is doing BigZ's voice in Surf's Up. Later on today I a CG-supervisor told me that the cast was in Imageworks for some interviews, takes and mugshots.

RATATOUILLE Rough Animation Test

As allways, Pixar is dropping jaws.

Another classic Kiss Cool

Pub Kiss Cool
Uploaded by srcmax

Kiss Cool' latest ad

Pub Kiss cool 4
Uploaded by Snooz

Inside the Lucasfilm data center

SAN FRANCISCO--Given the cult-film status of 1971's THX 1138 in the George Lucas universe, it should come as little surprise that the total capacity of Lucasfilm's giant data center is 11.38 petabits per second.

Read the entire article here:
http://news.com.com/2100-1026_3-6153647.html

Learn the Maya and become a millionair!

Voila, here it is, simple and clear recipe to become a millionair. What else could you possibly ask for?

Please not all at once, so I can keep my job for another while. Thank you!

Yosemite may 2006 trip photos online

Finally finished the photoset of our camping and hiking trip to Yosemite National park in May 2006.
Some of the picture have been online for a while, but here is the complete set in chronological order:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/esse/sets/72157594182159953/


PS: Most pictures are geotagged in Flickr. Click on the (map) link in the lower right corner, in the Additional Information section.

Kiss Cool

Another Kiss Kool ad.

KissCool
Uploaded by Beeshock

Mini Kiss Kool

Golden oldies. Funny ads.

Mini kiss cool
Uploaded by aurel1017

Sony Pictures Imageworks makes history today.

Oscars season is heating up and Hollywood starts buzzing like a bee.
"Monster House" and "Superman Returns" have been nominated for "Best Animated Feature" and "Best Visual Effects" respectfully.

The Amazing thing is that this work was done side by side. No studio has EVER been nominated for Best VFX and Feature Animation. Imageworks made history!

www.oscar.com/nominees/?pn=list

Where I work

Fountains at Sony Imageworks
Originally uploaded by ronzobot.

My desk's windows is the second but last one the right. View on the terrace and fountain. Could have been worse. I admit.

Who said penguins can't surf?

What if I told you they can shop...

We got ourselves a project...

Esse_subD_head_wire_cage_screenshot
Originally uploaded by _esse.

sculpting away on a humanoid head. I will post screenshots as I progress.

*We are. . .*

*85% DONE*

*15% left to in 24 days!!!*

*Go team!!!*

We are in the Venice Project™'s beta-test program

That means we are watching TV over the internet. Real TV, at the real quality, not the downsized downsampled Youtube video thumbnails, and the full programming.

The Venice Project is the new baby of the guys that brought us Kazaa and Skype. Here is their introduction:

We're working on a project that combines the best things about television with the social power of the internet - a project that gives viewers, advertisers and content owners more choice, control and creativity than ever before.

So far all runs pretty smooth. They needs some more content, but that's only a matter of time. Beta program is closed, new members will be invited by existing members. So let me know if you are interested and I will see if I can get you on.

https://www.theveniceproject.com/

64,000 graduates...

...in animation, that is what China produced last year.

Appart from that there are more staggering numbers:
- 466,000 were studying in colleges at the end of 2005
- 81,000 minutes of cartoons produced
- 15 national animation bases have been set up
- about 5,473 animation studios had been founded in China by Oct.2006
- animation departments have been established in 447 universities and 1,230 universities offer professional training for cartoonists

No typos, I have double checked all these numbers. Go check them out for yourself:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-12/30/content_5551054.htm

We are at the verge of a giant revolution.

Tree goats

Real or Fake? The author claims it's real, the images haven't been tampered with ... Story goes that these goats climb trees because of the scourching hot sand that seems to burn their feet... But, wait a minute, don't they have hoofs?

Read more on:
http://blog.moment.ee/2007/01/viljad-on-valminud-tree-goats.html

Los Angeles by night

Los Angeles by night
Originally uploaded by _esse.

View over LA from the Santa Monica Mountains. We set out for a small after dark hike last monday as it was full moon and clear skies to enjoy this beautifull view. Foreground is Santa Monica, than Venice and Marina Del Rey. In the background LAX area with planes taking of and landing. Thanks to Daniele for the tip and guidance.

MTV "Gets" Surf's Up

"Before you groan at the prospect of another penguin movie (and we feel your pain), consider that this one is told as a mockumentary.

It's "Spinal Tap" meets "Happy Feet," with a story that suggests that penguins invented surfing. The trailer for "Surf's Up" was one of the best of 2006."

http://www.mtv.com/#/movies/news/articles/1548982/20061228/story.jhtml