Weekend Wrap

I read with horror the L.A. Times report of the latest desecration to be. I came to the story thinking that the worst I had to face is the Beatles as a video game. Little did I dream of the monstrous evil contained within the text waiting to sear my soul.

I was prepared to forgive Zemeckis an awful lot because of his involvement with Roger Rabbit but wanting to remake Yellow Submarine with his soulless non-animation motion capture technique is not one of the things I can forgive. This is no longer funny cartoon death, funny cartoon death. It is contract murder of art.



I spent the weekend rewiring all the game systems in my semi-portable game system transport unit. I got the Famicom (NES) and Super Marufuku units up and running. The only 2 systems still running out to coaxial. I replaced the Playstation with a mini unit I picked up at a yard sale. It has RCA connections. (My son can have his Playstation back but I am still holding a number of his other systems hostage) All in prep of my History of Videogames class coming up this week.

Saturday night the family went out to eat with Alma Martínez (Under Fire, Zoot Suit, Barbarosa, Born In East L.A., etc). Alma was the maid of honor at our wedding. We had lost touch due to a messy divorce since we had met through her husband. (He hit me with a ruler in an 8th grade art class - long strange story) It was so much fun to catch up with this great lady of film and theater. She has her Ph.D. now and is teaching as well as acting. She is going to be doing Zoot Suit in Mexico City this year. Luis Valdez will be directing.




This Friday I meet with Seth Estrada to film my section of his documentary on the life of his father. I have been thinking a lot about Ric so I will have everything at hand or mind. That way I will not have all the the should-of-saids after the fact.

Tonight is History of Animation at Cal State Fullerton.

2 Rants and a Great Buy

The entire first season of Ranma 1/2 on 4 DVDs for 99.9 cents. (okay they round up to a dollar by way of hiking the price but still the last time I saw this they were asking $50. Hurry on down to the 99 Cent Only Store.



McAfee joins the ranks of online credit card pirates. Most of you that have been following these pages may remember that I blew a gasket 2 years ago when PC-Cillin tried to force me to give them free access to my credit card so that they could pull money out of it once a year without asking my permission. The only way that I could renew they product was to give them the right to raid my bank when they wanted to. It took be months and a couple of certified letters to get them to cancel their auto sticky fingers rip off. PC-Cillian was a good product but there is no way I am granting them free access to my bank account.



I tried a couple of other Anti-Virus (follow the money trail, who benefits from computer viruses?) One of the ones I tried was McAfee but it sucked so bad that I took the loss and moved on.

PC-Cillin was company enough to tell you right up front that they were going to force access to my bank account. Looks like McAfee buried it in the fine print at the bottom of the service agreement. Because last night I got an email informing me that my subscription had been renewed successfully on a product I ripped out of my computer 11 months ago.

It took quit a few phone calls first to my credit card company and then to McAfee but I got it killed and then the McAfee rep tried to bribe me into keeping their product by offering me a discount. Okay, the product sucks. It took me months to rebuild my system after installing it and even if it was the greatest product in the world I would never do business with a company that practices what I consider credit card theft. If a waiter did the same thing they would have him up on charges.

September 2, September 23, October 14, October 20, October 21, October 22, October 28, November 4 and November 18. I here by solemnly swear that I will not do any work for the Cal State System on these days. The furlough program is a bazaar compromise between the teacher`s union and the State that makes no sense in Euclidean reality. May even have some problems in quantum physics?

Notice that all on these days are Wednesdays except for the three consecutive days picked by the college president. (I teach at Fullerton on Mondays) Last Friday I was at a furlough meeting scheduled from 10AM to 1PM which I walked out on at 1:45. (No lunch break, no food provided) Hey money`s tight but you don`t run a meeting through the lunch hour without at least giving a break. At that meeting I had to sign a pledge to do my work on 9 days so that they could cut my pay by 10%.

Most teacher care a lot about the students or we wouldn`t be teaching and I have seen and felt that care used against teachers time and time again. I`m not cutting any of my class meeting times which means I will be working just as hard for less money. Because there is no way I can let 10% of the work slide. It has to be done and they know it. What, not grade one quiz? Not assign one paper? Not answer 10% on the emails from students. Not do my office hours? Not teach?

The furlough thing kind of makes a little bit of sense for a full time tenured teacher but gets way weird when applied to an adjunct way out on the edge of reality. What is stated in the furlough package is that the teacher is hired for all 75 days of the semester even if they only teach one day a week and that we have to promise not to work for 9 of those days so they can cut our pay by 10%. But they made it very clear that the furlough day don`t have to be teaching days. And the union makes it clear that they will support us if we decide to screw over our students and not ourselves. But there are enough checks and balances so the students will get you on the student evaluation anyway.

All that aside, it is a bad compromise but better that losing jobs. The union had to save face, save jobs, and keep everything lined up for good times so they don`t have to fight to get back what we had to gave up. So if I am being paid for working 75 days, what? 8 hours a day? Right! We have some real problems here because that means I am working below minimum wage before the 10% cut. After the cut we are talking chains and whips slave time.

So who is to blame, the union? The administration? The State? Dumb Ass Arnold? Yeah, the Gov. owns a lot of the blame. Hollywood finances lives in a fantasy world and has no place in state government.

Arnold spent the surplus like mad when he first got in and then went after the Indians and the teachers and the nurses and the state workers` pension funds, and even the county workers` pension funds (the money that the state and county workers had deducted from their pay each payday, their money!) anything he thought he could get his hands on. And then he sulked like a little girly man prima donna when he didn`t get his way. And held the whole State to ransom until he got what he wanted. Collage enrollment was already close by the time the budget was finally passed. Make those bricks without straw and 1.6 million less in the art department alone. Yeah, Arnold who have a lot to answer for.

But even Arnold didn`t pull the bonehead stunt of twice voting in an actor with no political experience. California is to blame for that mistake. And by California, I mean you people that voted for him. Hey, I saw Pumping Iron, no way did I vote for that guy. But then, is it even the voters` fault? All politicians talk about the importance of educating the next generation but none of them can afford an educated electorate. And if the kids don`t do well then just blame the teachers!

Vacation Catch Up:

Today is the gauntlet over at Cal State Fullerton. The hell race from department to department picking up all the bits of paper and plastic in the exact order, contract, ID card, Parking Permit, Keys, Admin, Pay Roll, Direct Deposit. After all this I get the privilege of teaching on their campus. This year there is another wrinkle, because of Arnold I get to work just as hard or harder but for less money. Why did California vote in an actor who doesn`t know the first thing about running a state?

Just back from the Grand Canyon. Spent a week camping with the family away from all electronic devices. No email, no posting, no idea what the news items were. Spent the last two days on the North Rim. Very nice, but try boiling water at 8,000 feet. Or hiking for that matter.

Just got the news that Virginia Davis has die at age 90. Disney`s first live action star was a talented actor who was feisty to the last. I talked to her for some time on the day that she got her lifetime Annie Award. She was sharp and insightful with a take on the beginnings of the Disney Bros. Studio that I was thrilled to hear. She was the only person who had worked personally with Walt who had nothing but praise for the man. (Eggs and omelets, you don`t run a studio without ruffling some feathers). She was a direct line back to the beginning of the studio and a great lady. She will be missed.



Russell Calabrese is trying to get some funding to start making an animated feature (Good for you Russell): Broadway Melodies: A Rock & Roll Mystery Musical - Animated Feature Film by Russell C Source: www.kickstarter.com

Russell Calabrese is raising funds for Broadway Melodies: A Rock & Roll Mystery Musical - Animated Feature Film on Kickstarter! A Feature Length Animated Film Noir Musical with a modern twist. Animation and music melded into edge-of-your-seat entertainment. (Good luck Russell I really want to see the feature)



My friend Kyle Boyd has a kid`s book coming out. He is back on the left coast after a goody time in the Big Apple. Kyle Boyd

My old friend and partner Ernie Pasanen has a comment on the passing of our teacher Ric Estrada.

Larry. Long time, no see. Damn, I got a lot out of Ric's class.

I thought that out of everyone who taught at Kubie-U, his lessons were the most practical.

I remember once when he wanted the class to create copies of work from other artists.
"So next week, be sure to bring in your favorite artist" he requested at the end of class.

So I said "But what if they're dead?"

I remember he laughed his ass off on that one. The next class, he had drawn on the easel pad a man dragging a coffin behind him, labeled "Piccaso", and a caption that read "I brought my favorite artist".

He will be missed.
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I am meeting with Ric`s son, Seth, on the 4th to film an interview for the documentary about his father.

Just finishing up cataloging videos and DVDs that have come into my collection in the last 6 months. I am currently on the 5th and last flat (24 VHS per flat, 50 to a 100 DVDs depending on packaging). It is a never ending battle.

Speaking of battles, I need to get ready for the long login at Fullerton. Charge the blockhouse!

Mr. Chipping

I have been thinking a lot about teaching as of late. Not just teaching in the short run day to day but the over time effect of the process. I think it is the death of friend and teacher Ric Estrada that has made me so conscience of the process.

I was glad that I got to talk to Ric just a few weeks before he passed away. I’m glad that I talked to Tex Blaisdell back about 8 years ago as it turned out to be just 2 weeks before he died. I called up both Hy Eisman and Irwin Hassen last week. The good new is that they both survived my telephone call (so far) so there really isn`t a provable trend.

Hy is still working with both The Katzenjammer Kids and Popeye comic strips. Irwin is 91 and retired and living the good life in Manhattan. He is probably still walking around with show girls on his arms.

Another reason I might be thinking of teaching is that I have spent the last week and a half putting together the database for my Cal State Fullerton History of Animation class. It normally takes a day to a day and a half to do this but they have imported the software (sic). Since when is taking control away from the designer for such things at column placed an improvement?





I finished the syllabus and class website for both History of Animation at Fullerton and History of Videogames at Laguna.

I ran in to a number of my former students at Comic Con. Kind of a circle of life kind of thing. I ran into a student from my ROP class who is working in graphics. I ran into 2 students form my Brooks College days. I didn`t catch what one was doing but Jeff is doing motion capture. My student from Laguna College of Art & Design had a booth in the Fantasy Art section. And was still going strong.

I ran onto a number of photos from my State Funded ROP animation program while getting stuff for camping out of storage.



This is a shot of part of the Wall of Honor from the advanced animation lab. Students had to pass the class with a B or better to get to paint on the wall. (no ego involved in my choice of subject matter)




This next shot is of a life drawing class. I am not the model, I am the model handler. And I do not have a visible tail. That is Rajah, a 12 foot female Burmese Python. She was one of the snakes in the snake pit in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I had a lot of great animal models for this class. Many of them good friends like Rajah the Python and Max the Monkey. I still miss them. Okay I didn`t really like the African Pixie Frog, it scared me.

Can`t Have Steamboats Without Steam Engines:

It is that time of year again. I am prepping for my Fall classes. The History of Animation class at Cal State Fullerton has a good 10 years of prep behind it so it is not that hard to get ready.

The History of Videogames at Laguna College of Art & Design is a new class. This is the second time through for me. I did about 6 month`s of research last year which I am reviewing. Here is a link to a chart I created for the class on the technology needed before videogames where possible.

Videogame Tech