Post 434 - Polly Wolly Doodlers - Getting Graphic with Haiku - ArtPrize 2021 Edition

 

Third Time's a Charm! Last update: 25 June 2020

Well, this round is in a new location, with a different machine, and different challenges in the full-blown midst of a pandemic, regardless of the opinions of inept knuckle-draggers.
The technicians are doing their best to keep things upbeat, the clinic is providing free valet parking, and the valets are dressed better than I am, providing a layer of guilt for such an unattended-to vehicle for them to put out of sight for the 10 minutes each session takes, from entry to discharge.

The first stop is for a hospital employee to ask a series of CoVid questions, and the interviewer may be from nursing, radiation, or even finance.  Volunteer-created masks are generally available, and once the path to the radiation department was tracked, we generally opted for the stairway for the sake of speed and lessened viral exposure.  Hand sanitizers are placed at 20 foot intervals.

The entryway is festooned with donated art - and even a player grand piano - to soothe and calm the patients undergoing more rigorous experiences than I never hope to see on my electronic medical record.

Stained glass by Mathias Alten, from his Grand Rapids home.  He was reportedly one of my great grandfather's friends, "back in the day"

My new best friend and a new mask to scare the kiddies with, come this Halloween --- 

These treatments have been condensed from 14 to 12, with the same total number of Gray units.  The two fewer visits in morning traffic along another challenging Michigan highway is a welcome adjustment.

Two spurts of radiation with each visit, aligned to predetermined marks, including a black dot tattooed upon the lower sternum (which can be used as a guide for The Stake should the radiation create a vampiric mutation).  Alas, no whiff of ozone, no sensation of scorched bacon. 

Yet.

Session 8 completed, 4 more to go.  At this point, there is some sense of laryngeal swelling by mid-afternoon.  Swallowing is still possible, but anything moving down the esophagus needs to be well chewed.  Mashed potatoes and pudding are very, very attractive dietary options.  Fortunately, the early CoVid stockpiling of catastrophic foodstuffs assured the presence of those particular essentials.

It should also be noted that now, three months after the end of the previous radiation treatment for the MALT in the right eye, that particular eyebrow has almost returned to its earlier configuration without the need for greasepaint.

Some redness is beginning to appear along the neckline at this stage as well.  Eucerin at hand!

Session 11 completed, 1 more to go.  Now the redness has a shade of purple emerging, indicating a heightened level of burn, but still without external pain or itching.  From a local vegetarian restaurant comes a T-loaf (tofu-based), nice and soft and crumbly, and a baked sweet potato, just begging to be lubricated with some freshly churned butter (ok, freshly refrigerated).  The rest of the refrigerator is well stocked with pudding and apple sauce, and some nine ounces of viscous lidocaine is nearby, if necessary.  There are rumors that the deep freeze contains sherbet!   Swallowing has become somewhat difficult, as predicted.  This and the evidence of external burns are expected to worsen for at least two weeks following the final treatment.

ASIFA CENTRAL ANIMATION RETREAT - GRAND RAPIDS, AUGUST 11 12

COMING SOON TO A WEALTHY STREET THEATER NEAR YOU! 

(ok, it's near you if you get to Grand Rapids, but keep reading!)
last update: Sunday 12:20 am, 12 August 2018

Connecting animators to animators! Celebrating the Art of Animation! Activities for ASIFA members include a hands-on animation workshop, multiple screenings and an animator’s picnic. An evening animation screening will be open to the public.

Events will be held August 11-12, Saturday & Sunday, at the Community Media Center, 1110 Wealthy Street, Grand Rapids, MI. You are welcome to come, join, network, and delve into animation.

- We gather Saturday morning at 11:00 am. Brad Yarhouse, ASIFA Central President will then officially welcome folks and open the events. New members welcome! Come and join our group, and stay for the weekend.

- Join the animating workshop, noon - 3:00 pm, where we will have several animating stations to undertake a short joint project. Try your hand at various techniques, such as using sand, silhouette or 2D sketching! (Bring along your favorite supplies, if you wish.)

- From 3:00 - 5:00 pm (or so), it's "Show and Tell" - SEE the wonderful animation YOU helped to create at the workshop! BRING and SHOW your own projects you are working on right now! HEAR the wonderful stories, gasps of appreciation, and praises as we share our techniques and passions! We will Premiere the new ASIFA/Central Ani-Jam, inspired by the International Animation Day poster for 2018! For "Show and Tell" entries contact Jim Middleton at jim.middletonrx@gmail.com

- Then, it is time for dinner! Wonderful food emporia are located conveniently to the Retreat.

- 7:00 - 8:30 pm (or so): More animation! Bridging the past to the present, Chuck Wilson will present the amazing silhouette work of Lotte Reiniger, animation pioneer. Following, will be the Best of the Ottawa Animation Festival, celebrating new international animation curated by the top animation festival in North America. This inspiring screening is open to the public, bring a friend.

- Folks are invited to reconvene Sunday morning 11:00 am, for chatting, mingling, and our annual picnic. This event asks for a $5 participation fee to help cover costs. Picnic location will be at the north end of Riverside Park in Grand Rapids, near the Veteran's home on Monroe. The ASIFA Central Retreat then concludes around 2:00 pm.  There may be cake!

Retreat limited to ASIFA and CMC members only. Memberships available on site.

For more information you can reply to this post or contact Steve Leeper at steve@jsleeper.com

"Show and Tell" section on August 11 - thus far:

ASIFA CENTRAL “SHOW AND TELL” for August 11, 2018
3-4:30pm

Time Presenter                 Topic
3:00         Jim Middleton         Photoshopping Anijammery
3:15         Chris DeWitt         New member, new film
3:30         Dylan Shay         New member (the sequel), and film with friend
3:45         Chris Sagovac Drawn Film Project - 16mm analog experience!
4:00         Mackenzie Mayo Something Amazing This Way Comes
4:15         Lindsay Moore Pen Droppings and Inkish Behavior
4:30         Wrap up discussion (buffer time to 4:45 and next retreat production)

Times may be adjusted for content and space, in either direction!

Be ready to answer some questions -
1. Did you have a particular self-imposed restriction on this project (were you only going to use a specific software, this project being your self-grown tutorial)?
2. What technology(ies) did you use?  (Hardware, software, tablets, lighting systems)
3. What turned out to be your biggest challenge in this production (music rights? Software limitations?  Rendering challenges? Post production output decisions based on distribution platforms?)
4. How did you adapt to the needs of the workflow for the project?  (If it was bigger than you expected, how did you cut or create work-arounds?)
5. What turned out to be your most valuable resource?
6. And just what did you learn from all this?

Charging Toward a Retreat - Organizational Meeting Notes #2

A Charge Toward a Retreat - Organizational Meeting Notes #2

ASIFA Central Subcommittee on Retreats and BBQs

Phone Conference Call/Zoom: Steve Leeper, Jim Middleton (secty), Gretchen Vinnedge, Robert Swieringa, Gary Schwartz

Tuesday, 26 June 2018, 7-7:40pm (Zoom says BE GONE, MORTALS!)

Some more of the August Retreat specifics were addressed and confirmed - some other items will be discussed “off-zoom” via email.  New material highlighted.

The Autumnal Retreat:
Location: Grand Rapids
Dates: Saturday, August 11 and Sunday August 12, 2018

Proposed Outline:
Saturday, August 11

11am - rousing, stretching, arriving at the theatrical location with snacks in hand for general consumption and minimizing distractions due to hypoglycemia

Opening remarks by Brad Yarhouse, ASIFA Central President - let the mayhem BEGIN!

NEW SPECIFICS!
Noon - 3pm Workshop
Here’s what we’re going with
1. A lip synch project, a brief 4 second bit of vocal gymnastics, promoting ASIFA Central.  Steve and Gary will be working on the narration text and will determine whether it will be pre-recorded or will be captured live at the workshop.
2. Gretchen has four (4) workstations available at the CMC site.  Dragonframe is available there.  Gary, Jim, and Steve all have workstations they can bring.   Steve is designing sand boxes, up to 8 of them.  Jim has a light board for silhouetting or 2D animation sketchery. 
3. Otherwise, it’s “BYOAS” - Bring Your Own Animation Supplies
4. Bring food! Drink! (It’ll have to stay outside the work zone) 

THEN - More NEW SPECIFICS!
3pm-5/5:30pm -Show and Tell, aka “Whatever the Hell We Just Made” (official ASIFA Central Sanctioned Term)
Jim will send out a request to the membership planning to attend to skoot along their intended participation works for the session.  Jim is also working up a standard half-dozen questions to ask everyone at the completion of the showing, with an emphasis on techniques and workflows employed.  The presentations will be recorded for editing into a document commemorating the event.  Jim's email is jim.middletonrx@gmail.com

5/5:30pm - 7pm - DINNER BREAK - on one’s own recognizances - such a variety, perhaps a deli, perhaps a bag of pork rinds

7pm - An evening show, no admission charge, but donations to the cause are always appreciated, if only to cover the light bill for the CMC
Two parts of the program are in the schedule -
Part One - Lotte Reiniger presentation (Chuck Wilson coordinating) - approximately 45 minutes
Part Two - The latest Ottawa showreel - approximately 45 minutes



Sunday, August 12
11am to 2pm - a BBQ “out back of the CMC”  - $5 will help defer the costs
Robert, Brad, and Gretchen will be the coordinators
We may freely enjoy each other’s company.  

Mary Poppins at the Devos Theatre in Grand Rapids - More Treacle than Brimstone

Perhaps it was the $50 nosebleed second balcony seats, or the cast figuring it's just those 'hicks from Grand Rapids,' but whatever it was being performed last weekend under the name of 'Mary Poppins' appeared so over-rehearsed and depersonalized as to be a sterile, mechanical experience with most of the performances being phoned in.

The 'updated' story has the somewhat scattered suffragette Mrs Banks becoming a frustrated former stage actress, the oblivious Mr Banks becoming a physically cruel father with a lewd eye towards the new nanny, and Mary Poppins becoming less of a magical governess and more of a 'good witch'.  In fact, the added musical bridges, insipid songs, and sung dialog had more to do with 'Wicked', 'Les Miz', and even 'Sweeney Todd' than it did with the Disney original. 

Obviously, the animated sequences would have been a challenge for a stage setting, but the substitution of naked statuary sans genitalia for the dancing penguins or singing lambs was just - well, creepy.  And the conversion of the "Supercalifragilisticespialidocious" song into a Richard Simmons-esque variation on a theme of "YMCA" was more sweaty than choreographed.  In fact, most of the choreography was pretty dreadful.  The "Step in Time" number was saved only by the character Bert's walk on the proscenium.

The sets were good, with lots of Germanic-cinema expressionism in the bank staging and some interesting forced perspective in the kitchen sequence.  In fact, given the Saturday afternoon experience with the musical, an hour or so of explanation of the operation of the set and how it worked would have been a far more entertaining outing.

In short, if you love the original movie, there is nothing added to this staged musical to make it worth your while.  Save your money and do as we did afterwards -- visit No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane on DVD and get all singy, sniffy, and sentimental.

AFTERTHOUGHT:
I'm wondering now if the same 'creative group' will go after the filmed musical "My Fair Lady" and make an 'updated' stage version of it!?  Imagine - Freddy marries Eliza this time, Col Pickering hooks up with the head housekeeper, and Eliza can have a duet with her phonograph complaining about being tools of Henry Higgins....and they can sing all the dialog, since that's what MUST be done in any musical onstage these days!