I got the GIANT color theory project done, thank god. I stayed up all of Saturday night to finish it. I was working in studio for 40 hours straight, except to stop to eat and to go see Flushed Away for another class (yea, my class requires me to go to bad animated movies). It was horrible. Before Thanksgiving all I really got to do it one more project for Animation Drawing, some rough sketches for the final project, the golf swing thing for Animation Principles, and one more small project for color theory. Man, when it's all laid out like that, it is a lot afterall.

I really must buy Adobe CS2. Not only will I need it for my class next semester, but I'd like to have it so I can digital coloring on my sketches.

I was also working on sketches of Sassy last night. I never knew how much of a problem peg-legs can be in doing poses.

Current Mood: apathetic

Yea, I'll start this thing back up again.

I got a bad case of the mid-term blues. Except for the fact that mid-terms was technically two weeks ago. But I just had a mid-term on Tuesday, so it's still mid-terms. I really want to go home. I'm tired of being here and I have so many projects to do before Thanksgiving.

I'm also questioning whether it was the right choice to come to Woodbury. Yesterday, one of the Design teachers came into our animation drawing class and talked to us (and by us I mean my class of 3 people) about archiving our work with the school. I turns out that Woodbury isn't even accredited by NASAD (National Association of Schools of Art and Design). This year they're trying to get accrediation again, and if they did, it means that my degree will be more valuable. But if they don't get accredidation by the time I graduate, then I'm degree won't be as valuable as a degree from CalArts, or Academy of Art University. I really don't want to transfer though. I had a hard enough time adjusting life here at Woodbury, I don't know if I could do it again. The other great thing about Woodbury is that they are right here in Burbank. The school is two minutes away from Cartoon Network, 10 minutes away from Disney, Warner Brothers, and Universal, and about a city block away from Film Roman, where the Simpsons and King of the Hill is done. The judging for the Annies (Oscars of animation), is right on campus. And I have to wonder, how does my school not have accredidation with NASAD with the kind of instructors we have. Two of my professors used to work for Disney, training new employees in the ways of Disney.

I just want to go home.

Current Mood: depressed

It would seem that's it's been a while since I post last. And I never finished the Spidey Spoilers. Oh well.

A lot of things have happened in the time since I last wrote. But I'm not going to talk about them, hah.

However, I will talk about school things. I'm going to Tacoma Community College as a Running Start student and I've been earning college credit and high school credit at the same time. The quarter at TCC is over now, but I'm taking two classes at my high school so I don't get out for winter break until Dec. 17th I think. But earning college credit and high school credit at the same time is an awesome deal. First, I don't have to pay for any of it. My high school pays for all my tuition and such. Second, most all of the credits I'm getting will transfer to almost any college. Even though I plan to go to DigiPen, which will not accept any of my credits, should I decide to go to say the University of Washington, most all of my credits would transfer over for a degree there. Third, you escape all the high school drama. You're going to classes with people who want to be there and don't care about who's dating whom. And everyone (most everyone) is much more mature (and older) than most high school students. One of the guys who sat next to me in my English class was 38 years old. Forth, I'm earning more high school credit for easier classes and spending less time working. I have so much more free time now than I ever dreamed I would have while attending my high school. Fifth, I escape the horrendous work loads of Junior and Senior year. At VHS they love to piled you high with meaningless crap and busy work in your last two years. Going to Running Start I also get to avoid American Studies.

The only thing is that going back to my high school and interacting with teens again. It's really kinda awkward because I just don't know what to say. And I'm out of the "loop" so I don't know any of the latest gossip (not that I want to know) and I have no idea what anyone is talking about most of the time.

In other news, I've been planning for my t-shirt company that I have been dreaming of for a while now. I hope to make panpipes and sell them to get enough money to get the business started up. I've been reading up on ways to get started and all the legal stuff that goes with it.

I'm enrolled in an art class at my high school (printmaking) so my artistic abilities have been reawakened. It feels really nice and wonderful to draw and just make stuff with my own hands.

In general, I'm feeling really good about most everything that's going on in my life.

Also, I'm reading Neil Gaimen's American Gods for the third time. I love that book and I love Neil Gaimen. Everyone should go out and buy one of his books. Do it!

Ta

Kels

Ok, so I saw the 12:01am showing of Spider-Man 2 this morning and I have a few bones to pick with it. So I thought what better place to be complaining about this than on LiveJournal.

WARNING: This contains spoilers for the new Spider-Man movie. This review is meant only for people who have already seen the movie or who don't care if they know what happens. CONTINUE READING AT YOUR OWN RISK

Before I begin, I must say... "We've got five years."

So the movie starts out kinda picking up where it left off. It's two years after the events of the first Spider-Man movie.

Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) is a successful actress, currently featured in the play "The Importance of Being Earnest", in which MJ performs terribly as an actress when Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) finally attends her play and she stares blankly at him as he sits in the audience before he mouths "Hey" at her and she, while missing her next line, mouths "Hey" back. I've been in plays before, and with stage lighting, if you try to look into an audience, you can see a damned thing. MJ, though still obviously very much in love with Peter Parker, has moved on to bigger and better things; her new play, her face on new billboards and posters all over town, and a new boy toy, John Jameson (Daniel Gillies), in the hopes that she will finally be rid of her love for Peter that never seems to work out.

Harry Osborne (James Franco) has moved on to be the head of "special projects" of his father's company, Ocscorp. Practically driven mad by his pursuit of Spider-Man, who he blames for his father's death, Harry begins to attack Peter, badgering Peter, asking him why is he more loyal to Spider-Man than to his own supposed "best" friend. In one scene where Peter comes to his Aunt May's (Rosemary Harris) house after being fired from his job at a pizza place, Harry proceeds to ask Peter if he's still taking pictures of Spider-Man to which Peter replies "I'd rather not talk about that," and Aunt May quickly interrupts, asking MJ if she would help her getting the cake ready. After Aunt May and MJ retire to the kitchen, Harry again repeats nearly the same line of "Still taking pictures of your friend?" and to which Peter once again replies with "I'd rather not talk about that" and proceeds to ask Harry why they can't just be friends like they used to, and Harry replies with the obvious "he killed my father." PLEASE! Can we stop stating the obvious and not act so much like Anakin in Star Wars Episode 2, being terribly whiney and emo? Despite how handsome and charming James Franco may be, as Harry Osborne he only plays the whiney emo kid, like a pre-teen angst whore.

Not a whole lot changed with Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), who blames herself for Uncle Ben's (Cliff Robertson) death, and believes that he'd still be alive if she had only made Uncle Ben stay home and have Peter take the subway to the "library". Faced with foreclosure on her house and with little money to try to mend the damage, Peter helps her to try to take out a loan from the bank, where the banker tells them that there isn't enough in Aunt May's assets to justify such a loan. I must say that Aunt May is quite darling in this movie, playing the very insightful old-lady who at the same time has little to no idea what is really going on. In a kitchen confession, Peter tells his Aunt May what really happened the day Uncle Ben (who I think is quite delightful as well in the one day-dream sequence in which he appears) died and that he didn't really go to the library but "went to a place to make some money to buy a car to impress Mary Jane with" and that Uncle Ben never would have been shot if Peter had stopped the guy who robbed that wrestling guy. First off, if Uncle Ben didn't try to fight with the robber guy, then he wouldn't have gotten shot. Secondly, if Uncle Ben hadn't died, then Peter Parker never would have used his Spidey powers for fighting crime. But to this confession, Aunt May responds only with a shocked face and goes upstairs and closes the door, leaving Peter to think about the gravity of all this crap.

By now, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is living alone in a shabby little apartment which he can hardly make the monthly rent for. In the very beginning of the movie he has a job working at the pizza place which he quickly loses because he couldn't make the 49 blocks to deliver 8 pizzas in 7 and a half minutes, even with the help of his Spidey powers. He still has his freelance photography gig at the Daily Bugle, which J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) repeatedly tells him he's fired for not having any photos of Spider-Man, but then is "unfired" a few moments later. Also, Peter's grades are continuing to drop and he "always seems exhausted" as one of his teachers states. It's actually because of a research paper he has to write for his class about Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) that Harry introduces Peter to Doctor Octavius (who, after his accident, becomes lovingly known as "Doctor Octopus" or "Doc Ock") and they chat about Dr. Octavius' new invention that will create a whole new sort of improved fission, or as he likes to call it "the power of the sun in the palm of my hand." But I really love Tobey Maguire as he played the part of Spider-Man/Peter Parker very well by bringing a sense of real "heart" to the super hero. I also enjoy him because as far as looks go, Maguire is very average and not exceptionally "hot" or "sexy". He's just a quasi-good-looking-nerd-boy.

So there's only really one important new addition to the cast of characters and that is Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) who is this scientist guy that the "special projects" section (headed by Whiney McWhineyton, Harry Osborne) is currently funding to develop this new type of improve fission that's like the power of a miniature sun. He's really a nice guy before the arm things are put on, and his intentions are good because this new fission thing would revolutionize energy consumption and price. When he talks to Peter Parker about it Peter continually asks questions about is it really safe and will it really work and than Otto's all like "I haven't made any miscalculations because I'm smart!" except that he doesn't actually say that but it is pretty much the jist of what he's saying. And then the first time they try this fission thing, Otto has created these mechanical arms that are invulnerable to heat and such that attach to his back and hook up to his cerebral cortex or something so Otto can controlled them as if they are his own, non-robotic, non-mechanical arms. And it's got this little neural inhibitor (which is a cute little blue light at the top of the apparatus) so that he controls the arms and they don't control him. He starts up the experiment and the force-field thing can't contain the miniature sun so all these solar-like "flares" are coming off of it and one hit the neural inhibitor which destroys it so now the arms can control him. Of course, Peter Parker was there when the fission thing was tried for the first time and of course, he runs off and changes into his Spidey-suit and has to shut down the machine.


So there's all the basic characters. I'll post the actual story tomorrow because I have to leave soon to go see Harry Potter 3 with my little brother. I also need time to regroup and remember every pain-staking detail of this thing that I can. And I think I'm running out of room. And you all are probably tired of my ranting.

Kelso Out

P.S. If there's any mistakes, spelling, grammer, sentence structure, or story stuff, try not to pay attention to it.

Current Mood: cynical

Luin's stalking me.

I'm very bored these days. Driver's Ed is a joke, school is actually becoming challenging again, the rats are fighting, Armondo never seems to do anything at all. But all creative expression seems to escape me. I try to RP at my communities but fluent words seem out of my reach, I can't focus long enough to be able to draw anything new. But that's ok.

You know the one major fly in the ointment about this live journal is that I can't fully divulge all my thoughts without the possible repercussions of people who shouldn't know what I think of them will find out exactly what I think of them. But isn't that just one of live's trixy little things.

I think I need another vacation.

Current Mood: discontent

I sat with the rats today. I'm trying to get them used to me but it's not really working. I think the only reason they even notice me is because I give them little yogurt treat things. Not much else is going on. I'll write more when the Boot of Inspiration gives me a swift kick in the ass.

-Mili

Current Mood: artistic

watch out for some mighty rantings.