More self-congratulatory crap
Thursday, February 23, 2006
It's weird to be excited about this. I'm obsessively checking Google News for reviews of Kappa Mikey. They're mostly really good... the New York Times, LA Times, Philly Inquirer, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide and others really seem to like it. This makes me weirdly euphoric; I had no idea I had such a craving for approval. And having it in the New York Times is entirely surreal... I mean, the New York Times! If Woodward and Bernstien write up a rave my head is going to explode.
Variety liked us, but thought it was aimed above kids' heads (which they've probably misjudged... kids are smarter than we think -- as far as this kind of stuff goes, at least). And so far only the Hollywood Reporter has been underwhelmed. Unfortunately, they seem to be widely syndicated. But fuck 'em. Who needs Hollywood anyway?
When did I get to be such a name dropper? Ah! This really is crazy. I still can't really believe it's going to be on TV at all... I always sort of assume that the tapes I send out are going to melt or something. A couple weeks ago some of us had to go to this "party" that Nicktoons threw, which really felt more like a trade show or a convention or something. It was entirely overwhelming and I felt like the already very high pressure suddenly jumped up by a factor of 10. They had some giant TVs there, and at one point I realized that they were playing snippets of episodes of KM on them. All I could think was, "Good lord, that means the tapes I sent them are actually functional! Apparently they worked well enough that they could put them on television!" I was like, "Holy shit you guys, look! It's on TV!!" They were like, "Well, yeah.... It is a TV show, after all." I tried to explain about all the different things that could go wrong with something complex and mechanical like a digibeta tape during the time between it leaving my hands at the studio and arriving at the network (and it's not like it's safe there!) -- demagnetization, being dropped, being kicked, being spilled upon... the mind reels. And every time I get a report back from international QC (quality check), which is absolutely insanely precise and equally a neurtoic's greatest relief and worst nightmare, I dance on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Perhaps my general working state of constant, barely contained panic does not lend itself completely to the job I have chosen.
Anyway, this shit's crazy. Watch the show! The first episode's not that great, but honestly, after that it really is pretty good. It's hard to remember that sometimes, but honestly, it really is.
Shameless plug time
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Since I know that at least one person who reads this is a professional television critic (hi DeAnn), I have to bow to pressures from The Man and post this... folks, this Saturday at 8pm on Nicktoons Network (which many of you may not have, unless you have DirecTV or RCN Cable), our biggest show yet at the AC is premiering. It's a big deal for the studio and is important for my prospects of future employment, which directly affects my ability to pay $25 a year or so for this domain name, so watch the freakin' show or it could mean the end of this blog! Which I'm sure would cause untold catastrophe.
The show's called Kappa Mikey. It's actually pretty good, if I do say so myself. Not that I had much to do with whether or not it's good. The writers, animators, producers (yes, even the producers) and director deserve that credit. I'm really just the guy who puts it all together and tries to catch any lingering mistakes. At least I am on the odd numbered episodes. Or is it even now? Anyway, check if out if you can. You'll notice I didn't go to such lengths to promote the last show I mentioned here, and I co-directed that one, so that should tell you something about the relative quality of this one.
So to recap, that's this Saturday, February 25th, at 8pm on Nicktoons Network (not regular old Nickelodeon). They're running the first two episodes back-to-back, then encoring them at 10pm. Why do I feel I've typed all this before? Oh yeah, because I have, in a million different permutations, all day at work. The lines all continue to blur. Anyway, watch it and marvel at my impeccable sense of comic timing.
Sorry to be such a capitalist pig. Our director's an honest-to-goodness commie, if that balances it out at all.
And dammit, I knew I shouldn't have eaten all those Cadbury mini eggs. Now I'm never going to get to sleep.
An Open Letter to Norah Jones
Monday, February 20, 2006
Hey, don't you live around here somewhere? Wanna hang out sometime and, like, listen to Darkness on the Edge of Town or something? Or shit, I dunno, bring one of your albums along, maybe. The first one, how about.
Just a thought.
- Dave
Somewhere in the swamps of Jersey
Sunday, Febuary 19, 2006
I went to the Stone Pony! And I forgot to bring my camera!
But here is a picture of the living room with the new coffee and wall tables I bought today:
Note the temporary wall table lineup of the Red Sox, Bruce, and Magnum, P.I. It's probably a bit of a stretch to say that each one represents one of the people who live here (I guess it'd be the Sox for Kramer, Springsteen for me, and Magnum for Megan). Actually, perhaps each one of us loves those three things equally. Except Megan. She has eyes only for Magnum.
Anyway, it was really cool to finally see a show at the Stone Pony. Bruce didn't show, though... so this entry isn't as mind-blowing as it might have been. I did see Soozie Tyrell, who's now the E-Street Band's fiddle player, so that was nice. And it's just fun to drive down the Jersey Turnpike sometimes. I do wish it could have been in something other than a Mazada 3, but whatever. Zipcar's probably not planning on getting a fleet of classic Chevys anytime soon.
I will now recall my six most recent Februarys:
Saturday, February 18, 2006
2000 - Damn good times
2001 - Woulda been at rumpus... oh yeah, now I remember. Not such good times.
2002 - No freakin' idea. I think this was about when I started working at swan island networks... that was a mistake...
2003 - Uh... still at swan island? Yup, I guess so. This would have been when I was living with Scott and Betsey in a really poorly constructed rowhouse. I would have been bussing it to work every day at SIN (aptly acronymed), as my scooter had recently been stolen... man, this really is a blur. Kenny and I were probably fixing a lot of cars. EDIT: Wait one freakin' mintue here... was this when Gabe and I went off on ill-fated adventure X to California to buy what would eventually become this car? I remember that the news of the Columbia burning up was on TV as we were waiting in the airport... shit, that was February, wasn't it? Did I do something totatlly insane every February? And what does this mean for the rest of this month?
2004 - Still in freakin' Portland? Yeah, I guess I was. Oh, shit, this would have been right around my crazy car-selling, border-patrol run-in trip to Blaine, WA, right on the cusp of Canada. I actually have that on video. And mere weeks before the beginning of what is now widely known as "The Phoenix Era."
2005 - Last year. This I remember pretty well. Lil' Shorty at the AC. And "The Gates" in Central Park taking New York by storm. You can research this one using the rew | ff buttons up on the left.
2006 - So far, not too bad.
Let's rank em':
Best to worst... 2000 comes out on top easily. Young, in college and falling in love... those were the days. Ah, youth. Who knew the hammer of old age would strike so suddenly, and with such severity? Anyway... really, I'd probably already have to rank 2006 next, even with it being only halfway over and all. February apparently ain't my month. 2005 next...Lil' Shorty was somewhat satisfying in a running-till-you-drop kinda way. I'd hate to put 2001 last, 'cause it was at least interesting (broke, broken up with, job hanging on by a thread... I was practically a Springsteen character!). 2002 through 2004 really are kind of a blur. I remember that I was reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance during a lot of those bus rides post-scooter theft, and that's pretty much my favorite book of all time, so I'll say 2003 next. Then 2004, as that Canada trip is a good story (and was a pretty ballsy thing to do, if I do say so myself). So I guess that leaves 2002 as the runt of the litter.
So is there any pattern here? Obviously not with odds or evens... 2000, 2006, 2005, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2002. I guess it is actually somewhat symmetrical... even, even, odd, odd, odd, even even. So, uh, I guess that means... huh. No idea.
Nor'easter!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Here's the backyard this morning.
EDIT 1: I didn't update yesterday, but I should have... it was my first girlfriend Anna's birthday. I doubt she's reading this. But if you are, well, happy birthday, Anna. I hope it's a good year and hey, if you ever wanna come out to NYC and try your hand at voice acting, lemme know.
And to the rest of you -- yes, I do use that line on all of my actress ex-girlfriends.
Use this setting when editing with NTSC in 10 Bit
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Frame Size: 720 x 486 Pixels
Editing Timebase: 29.97 fps
Field Dominance: Lower (Even)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: NTSC - CCIR 601 / DV
Anamorphic 16:9: Off
Video Processing: High Precision YUV allowed
White Point: White
Compressor: Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2
Millions of Colors (24 bit)
No Data Rate Limit
No Keyframes Set
Quality: 100
Audio Settings:
16-bit 48.000 kHz Stereo
Some days I feel like a real asshole...
Monday, February 6, 2006
And this is one of them.
