Jewelboxing

Now here's an excellent resource for anybody interested in putting together an awesome dvd or cd package, portfolio or gift! Not badly priced either!

Check jewelboxing for more!

mau.

A Hike in the Wilderness

StoneyPointPark006
Originally uploaded by mau2112.

Kim and I went to Stoney Point Park yesterday for a nice 2 hour hike.

Check the pics!

mau

Well lookie lookie

Now those are some sweet sweet shoes if you ask me :P

I love kimmie :)

Oh yeah, I got the flickr badge working, there are some nice pics from the Gilmour concert there. Check them out!

mau.

Oh the Joy!!!

That my friends, is David Gilmour. I had lost all hope of ever seeing him (or Pink Floyd really...) perform live. By far, this was probably the best concert I have ever been to. I think it even surpased seeing RUSH live for the first time. It was THAT good. He sounds just like he did 30 years (+) ago. Amazing comand of the stage, he brought the house down more than once... For me, Wish You Were Here did it. For my friend Yves (he went with me) it was Comfortably Numb.

Even though he did not play as many songs from PF as I wish he had, it was still a treat. Just as it was to see Richard Wright "tickle the ivories" . Even Crosby and Nash (yes...I know) came on stage.

What an amazing night. I am still geeking about it!

I will start a flicker account and I will upload more pics fromm the concert.

mau.

Books

Monique definitely has a click for recomending books I will like. I finished The Unbearable Lightness of Being a couple days ago. It's an unbelivably good read. Although I am not sure if I truly grasped the whole of the book in one go (probably not...) I was quiet moved by the ease and control Milan Kundera shows throughout the novel.

Here's a couple bits that caught my eye and made me drift for a while... It is when I read these that I find myself truly lost in a book. Just too good:

"...It is wrong, then, to chide a novel for being fascinated by mysterious coincidences, but it is right to chide man for beign blind to such coincidences in his daily life. For he thereby deprieves his life of a dimension of beauty..."

"...I have said before that metaphors are dangerous. Love begins with a metaphor. Which is to say, love begins at the point when a woman enters her first word into our poetic memory..."

After finishing the book, I decided to go for a change of pace. So I read The Tale of Despereaux, a really nice children's book by kate DiCamillo. The change of pace really made me appreciate the simple, yet fun approach of Despereaux. A nice little book. No more than a day or two to finish it.

Right now I am trying to decide what to read next. I have a couple books on the shelf... I should make up my mind tonight....

mau.

The Importance of Being Well Rounded

In the last couple days, I have come to realize that I've gotten a bit burned out from using all my spare time to read books about animation, or about Maya or Mel... Having said this, I should say that I am definitely not burned out about animation. It's just that... well... it's a bit too much.

A couple of days ago I woke up to a really pleasant surprise. 2 very close friends (they both live in other countries) were online and the 3 of us chatted for a good couple hours. Mainly catching up, wondering how our lives were going. The point of this is that, besides greatly enjoying our conversations, they really opened my eyes to a lot of things. Each in their own unique way, since one is an illustrator and the other one is a photographer. And both thumpin good I shall add!!

I started my post grad with them and I got exposed to a lot of new and fascinating things while I enjoyed their company. Mainly the wonders of illustration, the true depthness of fine art and the incredible subtleties of being able to discuss a book thouroughly. All of these with nothing more than maybe a good glass of wine or a strong cup of coffee. Many, many wonderful memories from those few months we shared.

That conversation got me thinking. "...I haven't read a good book in a while..., ...I haven't found a new graphic novel in a while..., ...I haven't painted in a while..." So of course, something clicked. I need a brake. I need to really take advantage of my scarce free time. So for the last couple days I have been reading, catching up on some movies. I still have to pick up the brushes and pencils. But I have time.. So it's all good.

The real importance of all this is that, not only do I do it because it brings me personal satisfaction, but because I truly think that all these different disciplines of art bring new perspectives to my work and to my way of seeing things. These are the tools that really round you up. They really make you a better artist. The exposure, the thought process, the variety.

It feels great to pick up all these wonderful books. I shall list some I have read & some I want to read. But right now, I'm off to the movies :P!

mau.