Sky's Star Wars Storyboard

Here's the infamous drawing mentioned in the previous post. Not a great scan, but you can see all the details, including George's signature.

Catching Up

Too many things have happened since my last real entry, so I’ll just try to do a bit of catch-up work, and then I‘ll get back to blogging in my semi-regular way.


In November, I started a new job. I’m a picture editor at Jim Henson Co. Above is the building I'm working in now. I admit it's pretty cool to be working for the company founded by the man who created the Muppets!

This is a departure career-wise for me, because I’ve been strictly in sound for so long, but I’ve enjoyed the change and the challenge of it. I still cut sound effects for my storyboard reels, so that’s keeping me sharp in that arena.

The show is for pre-school age kids and very cute. It’s called “Dinosaur Train”, which will debut Labor Day week on PBS this year. It’s CG animation and sort of new territory for Henson Co, but so far so good. As soon as I’m allowed, I’ll post some images from the show.

One of my goodest friends in LA, Dan Molina also joined the crew at the beginning of this year, so it has become that much more fun to go to work. He is a seasoned film and sound editor, whom I have already told that I will unapologetically steal as many ideas and tricks of the trade from.

I am sure I’ll so more sound work in the future, either at WB or Skywalker Sound, both of which have been very good to me in the past but I’m just going to ride this wave while it’s here. Jobs in the film industry aren’t necessarily abundant right now, so I’m happy to have this one.

One major downside of this gig is that now I’m driving all the way into Hollywood. My commute just grew by about 1 million cars. I go less crazy when I commute on my motorcycle, but I also have more road-raged drivers to worry about.

Ugh.

BTW, in case you haven’t visited, Hollywood is anything but glamorous.

We stayed home for Christmas and New Years. I’m sure I don’t need to explain how nice it is to be home for the holidays.


We went to Travel Town in Griffith Park for our friend Elliot Edwards’ 2nd birthday party.



Last week we we're in Oklahoma for my Grandmother Esther’s Memorial service. We were finally able to bring her to her final resting place alongside her husband Lester. Esther and Lester are finally reunited after so many years. I know they’re having a great time together.

The other night, McKenna our 10 year old, had a dream about Esther running around a playing with our family. I know she was given a picture of the future when we’re all together in heaven. That’ll be a sight!

Coming soon:
I’ll be back with more industry/editing related stuff soon. I’ll take you along with me on that adventure, sharing Final Cut Pro tricks and insights on editing as I discover them.

I’ll give you some glimpses of the Henson lot as well. The history is amazing, since it used to be the Charlie Chapman lot.

Plus, I’ll share with you my favorite addictive podcast.

iPhone, How I Love Thee

...but thou hast come at a great price.


I officially drank the iPhone kool-aid last week, by ending my 30 day trial early and porting my permanent cell # over. It's everything you've heard and more, living up to the "Phantom Menace" sized hype.

So if I'm so high on this marvel, what do I mean by great price? Before defecting totally from Verizon, they told me, "Make sure you don't have any voice messages, 'cause you'll lose what's there." I thought, "I don't have any new voice messages on there, 'cause I've been forwarding my number to the iPhone."

I forgot about my saved ones.

When I realized I lost my saved messages (30 minutes after it was too late), I was broken-hearted. I literally grieved for them. Sounds stupid I know, but let me explain what I lost.

I still had the message when Chana called me to tell me Maddie had peed on the potty the first time ever. It was hilarious, and I can still remember Maddies tiny voice telling me what she'd done, and asking for her treat!

I still had the message when Sky called me just to talk. He was 5, and decided he'd call me to chat, for no reason. I love that.

I still had the message from my Dad when he called me with pride in his voice, because he had received the Emmy I shipped to him.

I had many others, some silly, some more of keepsakes than anything else. My great mistake was putting off recording them to my computer over the last couple of years. I thought about it so many times, but never went through with it; and me, a sound guy for a living... sloppy.

The moment I figured out I had lost them, I prayed for God to embed them in my brain. I don't ever want to forget the sound of those voices. My only choice is to learn from this, and realize that there will be countless more beautiful messages from loved ones... messages that I will backup.

Drumming For A Lifetime, pt. 12

Pass It On


The other day, I was playing ping-pong with the kids. It was McKenna's turn to play me, so Madeline went over to this little electronic keyboard we have. She likes to turn it on and run the beat-box on it. So after a few minutes of playing pong to the beat, inspiration struck. I busted out my bag of percussion toys for a full-on jam session.


We've played music together before, but this time I described how to play the percussion instruments correctly, and we played along with the different style beats on the keyboard. Chana came home after a while and joined in. Micah was out and missed the fun.


The kids did a good job staying on the beat, and enjoyed finding different ways to get unique sounds out of the instruments.

Modern Technology is a Good Thing

Above is a screen grab of a Skype session with my youngest daughter Maddie. I've been at Skywalker Sound all week, and last night she lost a toof (tooth). I am bummed I wasn't there for the fun, but this morning I got to see her, so I'm happier.

Sometimes technology weighs us down, puts a leash on us, and generally drives us crazy. Sometimes it allows us to connect in ways that keep us feeling close, even though we're far away.

Oh, Chana told me she cried, 'cause she swallowed it! Not 'cause it hurt, but because she thought she wouldn't score a visit from the Toof Fairy!

Time To Catch Up

Wow, it's been a long time away from blogging, and if you're still coming by, thanks!

A lot has been happening over the last 6 weeks or so, so let's get to it.


I am now a motorcycle rider. I have been researching this world for several months now, and I finally took my Motorcycle Safety Course and got my license. A month ago I bought a bike. After much hemming and hawing, I went with the Suzuki DL650. It's a great bike for commuting and can go on dirt roads too.


You know you want one.

Speaking of biking, thanks to my friend Jason, I was able to take Micah out dirt biking for his 15th birthday. We were both smitten, and we've vowed to go back soon.



We also took the kids to the El Capitan to see the recently refurbished "Jungle Book", set up by our friend Brenda. On the way to the theater, we met up with The Batman and Super Girl. (I love how McKenna is in her Super Girl pose.)



I took this at a nearby park we frequent. It might have to go on an album cover sometime. Or... not, but it's cool.



Oh, and it rained once. Weird.



And last but definitely not least, Micah made this for his youth pastor Steve for Christmas. Micah has a couple snakes and a lizard. Steve has a problem with reptiles, so Micah gave him this thoughtful gift. Kinda creepy, but I also think it's brilliant.

The Secret Handshake

About three years ago, our 9 yr old daughter McKenna told me she wanted to create a "secret handshake" with me. At first, I was like "whatever", but then I realized it was a chance to have a special thing with her that we could carry on for years and years.

The Handshake: A Brief History

Most people think that the handshake
has always been a cordial greeting,
but the some sources say the truth is the opposite.
The handshake supposedly originated when
opposing enemies came together for talks.

The second they would set aside their weapons,

they would grasp the other's arm to keep them
from picking up their weapons again.

This later evolved into a sign of trust and has passed on from
culture to culture, generation to generation,
to become the casual greeting it is today.

(My theory is that the warrior on the left still had significant leverage
and threw the other man into the nearby well, but I have no proof.)

(images stolen from the classic film short, "We Do It Because")


Anyway, now I have separate secret handshakes I do nightly with McKenna and our seven yr old son Sky. Maddie, our 5 yr old, likes to play pat-a-cake and call that our "secret handshake", but I know sometime soon, we'll come up with our own "real" shake.

I'm still working on our 14 yr old. No interest there yet. Maybe if I put on a viking helmet, he'll be into it?

Okay, so while we're at it...

Here's a slideshow I put together for Chana's birthday a couple of years ago for her birthday. Obviously I'm biased, but I love this slideshow, and I could watch it over and again. The combo of song ("Comfortable", by Fleming and John) and images is perfect. Hope you enjoy it!

(BTW - I promise not to make you watch all of our family movies.)

Sleeping Cutie

We made this in 2003, and I just recently dug it out. We were playing around, and it kinda turned into a video shoot. I love it because it took no coaxing to get the kids to participate. These days, they're much more self-aware.

Sending Out an S.O.S.

Since I have never blogged about The Police (your eyes may now roll), I thought I'd treat you to a short film my wife Chana put together with our kids and some of our friend's kids. She has always wanted to ask some of these questions to the band (the questions start about halfway through), and since she couldn't get to the band when they came through town, she thought this might one day produce some answers.

The Great Summer Summary

So many things have been going on this summer, that I've had an opportunity to blog about only a few of them. So, now that summer is coming to a close, here are a few highlights of what we've been busy doing.

A big highlight was our trip to San Diego. (Above: Chana and Maddie on the west side of Coronado Island. Below, Chana at the Hotel Del Coronado.) We spent a lot of time playing around on that Island.


Touring the USS Midway...



This is the HMS Surprise. It appeared in the movie "Master and Commander". We could've toured it, but the kids were starting to melt down. Another trip I suppose.


A trip to Sea World...



We took the 'Behind the Scenes Tour'. I don't know what was uglier; the squids or the eels we fed the squids to.




Back home, we went to a few concerts. A U2 tribute band played locally. (Notice Chana's hat on "Bono" for this song. The kids felt like they really saw U2, so I won't rub it in to them of how great the U2 "Joshua Tree" tour was in '88.)


If you ever get the chance to see the Spazmatics, do it. They're a really good band on top of being hilarious.


Wrap that up with a trip to the Ventura County fair (watch out for that cabbage smell), and then we locked the kids up at Six Flags.



And last but not least, Maddie celebrated her 4th birthday Aug 15th.


And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I've Got A Fever

This past Friday, the kids had a homeschool park day with an accompanying "Show and Tell". McKenna (8) and Sky (6) were excited, but McKenna was looking for an idea. I suggested that she take some of my hand percussion and talk about some of it as she played it for them. She couldn't think of anything better, so she finally agreed.

I pulled out my big bag of percussion toys and started showing her the techniques behind each instrument in it. She picked up the basics really fast and soon picked out her favorites for the Show and Tell. She chose the claves, triangle and cowbell.

I was pleased that she chose the cowbell, because I knew she could have fun with the ever popular Christopher Walken character Bruce Dickinson's statement "I have a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell." I taught it to her, she got it down, and everytime she practiced the line, I shot both fists straight into the air in fatherly triumph.

Well, when the time came, she did her turn, said the joke, and no one knew the reference! Now, what kind of society are we living in that 5-12 year-olds don't know a really funny reference from probably the best SNL skit in the last 20 years!! Okay, my kids didn't know it either, and McKenna did it SOLELY to make her Dad happy - but hey, still!

This is why I want to devote a little space to the cowbell here.





And here's McKenna crankin' it up on a large cowbell. Whether they knew it or not, everyone left the park with a 98.6 that day.

Drumming For A Lifetime, pt. 1

I thought I'd start a series about drumming and it's many built-in therapies. Whether you're playing in a band that tours the world, tours the town, or you never get out of the garage, you can enjoy the benefits of playing drums for a lifetime.

I'm currently teaching my 13 year-old son some grooves, and he's catching on really fast. He's starting to learn about the same time as I started, so it kinda takes me back. Of course, I didn't get to learn on a DW kit! (my DW's have the same finish as the ones in the above stock image)

My first kit was a $20 flea-market three-piece Ludwig. It had a cool 20" kick. A year later, I traded up to a vintage four-piece WFL kit I still own. It was made by Ludwig in the 1950's during the time they had sold the company name. They started making the WFL line of drums (WFL=Ludwig's initials), and they were great. I have recorded many a session on those babies, and they've never let me down.

When I was a kid, my Dad was always supportive of my playing (though not always happy about my practice volume). Nowadays, there are those cool practice pad sets. Maybe I should get one for my son?? Naa, where's the fun in that!

My wife is so cool 'cause she'll often ask me to stop what I'm doing and go play. I can't believe it doesn't drive her crazy when I do, but she seems to like it. We should really video tape the kids during those times, because they are inventing new impossible dance moves every time. (Why is it that when you're between 3-8 years old, you can bend in ways God really hadn't intended?)

My intention is to play drums (and other instruments) until I leave this world and trade them in for a harp. I must confess though, that I'm hoping the harp will also serve as a MIDI controller and be able to playback samples from God's drum-sample library.

More on drumming to come. For now, check out this site: DW Drums
There's a lot of useful information there; I've always enjoyed the "Kitbuilder" feature.