I will be the first to admit, my aesthetic can be a bit... let's say, "Youthful". I grew up in Anaheim and worked at Disneyland in my teens...so there is a lot of youthful influences that I try to incorporate into some of my projects as an adult. I can't be too far off from the rest of the world, the guys on "Big Bang Theory" are always reading comics and playing with toys...right?
So, a year ago, I got an ideal client... an elementary school. I did some logos for free, and then designed tshirts to promote school pride---I even geared up the pep squads (who even knew that elementary schools had pep squads?!?)
And then, over the Summer, I got the request to help design the graphics for the new school marquee. So I sent this image:
And now, today, I got these pictures of the project moving forward:
Baldy View Marquee Installation
Baldy View Marquee Close Up
I have been able to say I am a professional designer for a while, but have not had too much proof to back it up publically. Therefore, I am posting this to validate my designs... YEAH!!!!!
KC was quite helpful outside, as my Halloween decorative assistant. He is very much UNLIKE any other cat I have had the acquaintance to know. He will follow me around the yard, always under foot "helping" me with everything I do.
He was, however, very photogenic with the Halloween decor...
Beginning Monday, Oct 31, Portland begins a new chapter in trash pickup.
... been doing blue recycling for years.
... yellow glass pickup, also a regularity.
... green Green Waste is also done often, Often.
so what is this new chapter you ask...? (I assume you ARE asking)
OKAY, so Portlandia, the series, might have added a extra bin color or two (or twelve), but beginning on Monday, trash pickup is gonna be done only every other week in exchange for composting that will become a weekly process. Sadly, we eat out more than not. Still striving to become more Portlandic!
Sooo... I just started watching "Curb Your Enthusiasm" this past season. It makes me uncomfortable as I laugh out loud hysterically. The season finale made watching the entire season worth it, but enough about all that.
The character that had me laughing in the aisles (that is, if my living room actually had aisles) was this, shall we say "special" kid... I don't to give too much away here. I found this video clip online that summarized the story line in just 3 minutes.
Oh and by the way, I love this video... but it is just SOOOO wrong...
The only thing more psycho and crazy than cats, are Muppets. For those who live under a rock (or worse, under a Fraggle Rock), there will be a new Muppet movie this holiday season entitled: "The Muppets"... so clever of them, huh?
So I share with you today (because it has been too long since I have posted) a new video featuring Ok Go and the Muppets performing The Muppet Show Theme.
Our Neighborhood Association met 3 weeks ago, across the street. At the meeting, a stray, youthful cat waited outside the door until he was ready to make his grand entrance... which he did, at least five times during the meeting.
He was obviously interested in getting involved. This was, however, not the venue he was most suited for.
A week later, he found the kitty food dish and water bowl that we keep on our porch.
New cat on the steps, with resident FluffySox looking on.
It took all of about... 47 minutes, for this cat to figure out he struck gold on our porch. He comes running whenever the front door is opened. He heels like a dog if we walk through our yard, or up the street. He seems to have set up his new home here, it's a good thing he is quite friendly and social.
Very comfy... he's got "sleepy" eyes, not "evil" eyes.
So, as with all porch cats, we gave him a nickname: KC, short for KC McCasey, short for KC McCasey Abraham DeLacey Thomas O'Malley, the alley cat.
Anyone out there remember the Beany & Cecil cartoon from the early 60's? No, I didn't either... until I started watching this video clip. Something strangely familiar about this video, in more ways that one.
See if you recognize these characters and furthermore, see is you catch all the Parodyland references!
The BAILEYBLOG at SimbaSpot.BlogSpot.Com IS a cat blog, first and foremost. It will continue to be. Although I am gonna try to branch out a bit (if Bailey lets me), I think that the entire Disney topic should be addressed elsewhere...
...so, I am introducing the "Disneyland California Report" Blog. This is where I will post Disney news and Disney-inspired graphic art.
I am currently following less than 10 Twitter accounts.
No really.
Even less follow me... (FYI: @SimbaSpot)
Daniel Tosh, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Duffy Bear, Jim Henson Company, Neil Patrick Harris... which is actually the reason I checked out my Twitter account today (bonus points if you get the "In Joke" regarding that sentence)... but there is one Twitter account I follow, Stephen Fales (@MormonBoy), who posted a great homage to Mormons on Broadway... let me share it with you.
One day when I was about 14 years old, I decided I liked Disney. This decision was made mostly so that friends and family had a default concept built in for birthdays and Christmas gift ideas... I mean it made sense, as I grew up in and around Disneyland. In high school, Toni Basil's "Oh Mickey" became my theme song and I acquired the nickname "Mick- the Mouse". I even ended up working at Disneyland for a summer when I was 17-18 years of age.
P L U T O
Ironically though, as much as I do like Mickey Mouse, he doesn't rank as one of my top 10 favorite Disney characters. Actually my very favorite Disney character is Pluto, a Mouse's best friend. Why? As near as I can figure, I am a lot like the loyal pup. I am a Gemini, which means I have two distinct personalities... much like Pluto (who is actually a Virgo, as he premiered on September 5, 1930). See, Pluto is an insanely loyal canine companion to Mickey, yet the moment Chip 'n Dale appear he's aggressive in defending his environment. I see perfectly eye-to-eye with Pluto on that philosophy.
F I G M E N T
My next two favorites, in no particular order, start with Figment. Actually, Figment of Imagination. Figment is a wide-eyed, child-like purple dragon with an active and creative imagination, from the EPCOT attraction "Journey into Imagination", which opened on March 5, 1983. Figment, along with his creator, Dreamfinder, explore creativity and imagination to the song "One Little Spark"---a song with my name in it! Cool! Although Disney closed the original attraction 1998, and had to alter the replacement in order to add Figment back into the newest version, Figment remains one of my favorite characters ever created by Disney, and since he only resides in one location on the planet, he remains understated and quite special to me.
O S W A L D
To round out the Holy Trinity of favorite Disney characters, I go to the oldest of all the Disney characters... no, not Mickey... Oswald. If you know the story already, skip the next paragraph. If not, let me share the details.
The first fully developed animated character Walt Disney created was Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit. (He premiered on September 5, 1927-- thus sharing a birthday with Pluto!) After a year of creating Oswald cartoons, Walt went to New York to request a financial increase for future episodes. Instead he was told he would either accept less money, or the character would be animated elsewhere, as the studio actually owned the Lucky Rabbit. Walt did not accept those terms, and as a result, the Oswald-less train trip back to California was where he came up with a new character, Mortimer Mouse Mickey Mouse.
Here's an awesome video that shows how everything went down in the late 1920's, at least how Oswald saw it!
(Also, this video clip is animated to music, "Oswald's Theme", created for the Epic Mickey video game that features Oswald)
In 2006, the Disney Company negotiated to bring Oswald back home to Disney for the first time in nearly 70 years. That's his story and that's why he's one of my favorites.
So just remember,
despite what the official corporate statement might be...
Neil Patrick Harris did a sensational job as the host of the 65th Tony Award show, definitely kicking it off in high gear with the intro musical number, "Broadway! Not Just for Gays Anymore!"
I was rooting for The Book of Mormon for most of the Musical categories, and for War Horse for the Play categories, so overall, I was pleased with the results. It did kind of suck that the show ran long, and the DVR broadcast cut off the final award, Best Musical... not to mention Harris' awesome Tony recap rap.
Here are the results of the Tony Awards 2011.
Best Play Good People Author: David Lindsay-Abaire Jerusalem Author: Jez Butterworth The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Author: Stephen Adly Guirgis War Horse Author: Nick Stafford
Best Musical
The Book of Mormon Catch Me If You Can The Scottsboro Boys Sister Act
Best Book of a Musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Alex Timbers The Book of Mormon Trey Parker, Robert Lopez
and Matt Stone The Scottsboro Boys David Thompson Sister Act Cheri Steinkellner, Bill Steinkellner
and Douglas Carter Beane
Best Original Score Written for the Theatre The Book of Mormon M&L:Trey Parker, Robert
Lopez and Matt Stone The Scottsboro Boys M&L: John Kander & Fred Ebb Sister Act M: Alan Menken L: Glenn Slater Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek
Best Revival of a Play Arcadia The Importance of Being Earnest The Merchant of Venice The Normal Heart
Best Revival of a Musical Anything Goes How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Best Performance by an Actor
in a Leading Role in a Play Brian Bedford The Importance of Being Earnest Bobby Cannavale The Motherf**ker with the Hat Joe Mantello The Normal Heart Al Pacino The Merchant of Venice Mark Rylance Jerusalem
Best Performance by an Actress
in a Leading Role in a Play Nina Arianda Born Yesterday Frances McDormand Good People Lily Rabe The Merchant of Venice Vanessa Redgrave Driving Miss Daisy Hannah Yelland Brief Encounter
Best Performance by an Actor
in a Leading Role in a Musical Norbert Leo Butz Catch Me If You Can Josh Gad The Book of Mormon Joshua Henry The Scottsboro Boys Andrew Rannells The Book of Mormon Tony Sheldon Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Best Performance by an Actress
in a Leading Role in a Musical Sutton Foster Anything Goes Beth Leavel Baby It's You! Patina Miller Sister Act Donna Murphy The People in the Picture
Best Performance by an Actor
in a Featured Role in a Play Mackenzie Crook Jerusalem Billy Crudup Arcadia John Benjamin Hickey The Normal Heart Arian Moayed Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo Yul Vázquez The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Best Performance by an Actress
in a Featured Role in a Play Ellen Barkin The Normal Heart Edie Falco The House of Blue Leaves Judith Light Lombardi Joanna Lumley La Bête Elizabeth Rodriguez The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Best Performance by an Actor
in a Featured Role in a Musical Colman Domingo The Scottsboro Boys Adam Godley Anything Goes John Larroquette How to Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying Forrest McClendon The Scottsboro Boys Rory O'Malley The Book of Mormon
Best Performance by an Actress
in a Featured Role in a Musical Laura Benanti Women on the Verge
of a Nervous Breakdown Tammy Blanchard How to Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying Victoria Clark Sister Act Nikki M. James The Book of Mormon Patti LuPone Women on the Verge
of a Nervous Breakdown Best Direction of a Play Marianne Elliott & Tom Morris War Horse Joel Grey & George C. Wolfe The Normal Heart Anna D. Shapiro The Motherf**ker with the Hat Daniel Sullivan The Merchant of Venice
Best Direction of a Musical Rob Ashford How to Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying Kathleen Marshall Anything Goes Casey Nicholaw & Trey Parker The Book of Mormon Susan Stroman The Scottsboro Boys
Best Choreography Rob Ashford How to Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying Kathleen Marshall Anything Goes Casey Nicholaw The Book of Mormon Susan Stroman The Scottsboro Boys
Best Orchestrations Doug Besterman How to Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying Larry Hochman The Scottsboro Boys Larry Hochman & Stephen Oremus The Book of Mormon Marc Shaiman & Larry Blank Catch Me If You Can
Best Scenic Design of a Play Todd Rosenthal The Motherf**ker with the Hat Rae Smith War Horse Ultz Jerusalem Mark Wendland The Merchant of Venice
Best Scenic Design of a Musical Beowulf Boritt The Scottsboro Boys Derek McLane Anything Goes Scott Pask The Book of Mormon Donyale Werle Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Best Costume Design of a Play Jess Goldstein The Merchant of Venice Desmond Heeley The Importance of Being Earnest Mark Thompson La Bête Catherine Zuber Born Yesterday
Best Costume Design of a Musical Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner Priscilla Queen of the Desert Martin Pakledinaz Anything Goes Ann Roth The Book of Mormon Catherine Zuber How to Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying
Best Lighting Design of a Play Paule Constable War Horse David Lander Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo Kenneth Posner The Merchant of Venice Mimi Jordan Sherin Jerusalem
Best Lighting Design of a Musical Ken Billington The Scottsboro Boys Howell Binkley How to Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying Peter Kaczorowski Anything Goes Brian MacDevitt The Book of Mormon
Best Sound Design of a Play Acme Sound Partners and Cricket S. Myers
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo Simon Baker Brief Encounter Ian Dickinson for Autograph Jerusalem Christopher Shutt War Horse
Best Sound Design of a Musical Peter Hylenski The Scottsboro Boys Steve Canyon Kennedy Catch Me If You Can Brian Ronan Anything Goes Brian Ronan The Book of Mormon
Finally, if you were able to watch the Tony Awards, you got to see the musical number for Stephen Sondheim's Company(clip above). The entire show was filmed on Broadway during the Spring, and the entire production will be showing in movie theaters during this next week at only 4 very special showings... I'll be there, will you?
After last week's Darth Vadar post, it only seemed appropriate to add this great video...
George Lucas Strikes Back helps explain the hidden back story about the decline of the Star Wars prequels (and other Lucas films), the Hollywood mafia, and how Short Round helped to save the day! Enjoy!
Need to learn all 50 states? Here's a great video to help you remember each of the 50 states via the stereotypes that clearly make identification so darn easy.
Friday, June 8 2007... I spent the morning in class. It was my very last class at Art Institute ever, as I was graduating the next week. Because I was graduating, final exams were given earlier than the other students (to make sure we'd actually pass classes) and so when the rest of the class spent the last hour reviewing for their exam the following week, I was allowed to leave early.
The day was now free. Quickly, I made a plan for me and Mike to drive up to Anaheim, and meet up with Lorrie and Bill at Disneyland. You see, the Submarine Voyage had been closed for over a decade, sitting empty, until recent construction began to transform it into the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. The official opening date for the revamped attraction was set for Monday the 11th, but they were previewing it on this Friday. (Any new attraction at Disneyland gets me giddy, and Nemo happens to be one of my 5 favorite Disney films, so you know I had been counting down the days til it would open). It did not disappoint.
After Nemo, a bit of shopping was to be done. Lorrie and her Disney pin fascination led us to a pin shop nearby in Tomorrowland. While checking out the limited edition pins, I noticed some 2007 calendar selections. Fittingly, January, February, and March were no longer available... there were still a few April pins and even more May pins, but the newest and most available was the June pin. It seems that each month had a traditional holiday theme, however I don't think Flag Day or Father's Day translated too well into an easily marketable theme so June, as a representation of the start of Summer, was dedicated to "Ice Cream Day"--- with the very day we were there, June 8, highlighted as the actual Ice Cream Day!
I bought the pin, and the image above is my drawing of it with all it's details. And did I mention I now celebrate Ice Cream Day every year?
...because that day also happens to be my Birthday!
On May 25th 1983, I was working at Disneyland... it was the morning in which the "New Fantasyland" was being re-opened and I was in the Grand Re-Opening ceremonies. In fact, as the drawbridge was lowered for only the second time in history, I was the third person to walk across the bridge, costumed as Toy Soldier #3. Apparently, even Sleeping Beauty used the Royal Guard services of the Babes in Toyland Toy Soldiers.
After clocking out around noon, I raced back into the park solo, and rode only one ride, the brand new Pinocchio attraction. I would have liked to have stayed longer, but my day was just barely beginning.
That particular day was also Senior Ditch Day at my high school... and you guessed it, I was a Senior in High School. I had already planned to miss the day at school because of my Disneyland work opportunity, but as it turned out, Ditch Day was planned for this particular day because it was the same day "The Return of the Jedi" opened in theaters... so after my Castle encounter, I had to rush back to my home town and join my friends in line at the movie theater for the Jedi premiere.
Which makes this Disneyland video clip all the more awesomely awesome to me.
The Tony Awards are next weekend, and it is no surprise that I am favoring "The Book of Mormon" to win the Best Musical award. It is written by the South Park guys, along with one of the "Avenue Q" writers... so really, it is already the winner in my eyes.
However, I am writing this post in order to express my thoughts on the Best Play category. I admit I wouldn't mind it if "The Motherfucker with the Hat" won--the show sounds great and has a great title! Rather, I really favor the WWI period play, "War Horse". The show is about the friendship between a young man and his horse, but the horse is sent off to the war front. The equine puppetry is absolutely mesmerizing. There really are no words to explain how awesome the emotions are expressed by the horses through amazing puppetry.
I'll be rooting for "War Horse" to win next weekend and I found a video clip that does it some justice, so that maybe you'll be rooting for it too.
After weeks of cloudy, overcast, wet weather, this weekend is offering a bright, bold, blue day to help coax out the reticent spring flowers. Same thing happened last year, on this same weekend.
You see, last year, it was pretty clear that Kira was in decline. We had planned on spending the weekend showering her in love and saying our goodbyes. She had been hanging in there for weeks and we knew that the tide had turned, but one thing we hoped she would get to have before the end was a few hours of the sun's rays to warm her tired little body. That weekend, the winter weather took a break and Kira was able to bask in the warm sunlight and daddy loving that she thrived on.
Thinking about you today, Kira.
This year, we got the exact same weather pattern. However, in her absence, the change in weather is marked by the presence of the porch cats... FluffySox, 50/50, Sharkbait, and Brillo. (Found cat, Kasey, even popped up, practically knocking at our front door about a week ago). Our front porch faces the west and the afternoon sun is ideal, as it beats down and helps recharge all the solar powered cats in the neighborhood. Not to mention the free cat food, beds, and shelter, our porch is the ideal kitty haven. We even have a new visitor, another orange and white tabby like 50/50 only smaller... we nicknamed him 40/40.
So, as a reminder not to become overrun by stray/feral cats, I post this picture. It is to remind me what a homeless critter might look like on our porch if is gets to be a little too comfortable...