Another Loss for the World of Animation

Iwao Takamoto, a legendary animator and character designer, passed away one week ago today.

He worked at WB Animation, and I saw him almost everyday. Unfortunately, our direct paths never crossed in work because of our specific duties, but I always took notice of him when he was around because he was a living legend.


He created many beloved characters such as Scooby-Doo, Astro ("The Jetsons"), and Muttley ("Wacky Races"). He also was an animator for Disney in the golden era, having worked on "Cinderella", "Peter Pan", and "Lady and the Tramp". His credits include many more classics.

Here is a more thorough perspective of Iwao's work thanks to Jerry Beck's animation blog. It's a really interesting read.

Miscellaneous Happenings

As promised, here's some images from recent days.

Chana's parents, Lynn and Glenda celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary last month. I did a tribute video made up of old pics and family video footage. It was a lot of fun to see extended family and friends that day.


Sky lost both front teeth on our Christmas trip. When the first one came out, he kissed the chicken strip that knocked it out and yelled "money, money, money!" Apparently, the charm of the Tooth Fairy is held only by her ability to fork over the Washingtons.


theCalling got together right after Christmas for a show. We worked hard to get the old material ready. It was a blast, the crowd went wild - well, they said they liked it.



Finally, last night Chana and I went to "An Evening With Lost" at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Almost the entire cast of the show was there, plus the creators (including J.J. Abrams) and producers, and the event was hosted by late night talk-man Jimmy Kimmel. There were no secrets revealed, but there were some good stories told. Obviously, the little digital camera I took is lame. I also need to talk to the guy who's supposed to clean the lens. (go to the link for more info)

Dominic Monaghan

Matthew Fox


More later...

UPDATE 01-31-07 - Some (MUCH better) pics from the Academy site:

Drumming For A Lifetime, pt.6

I have carried a drum key on my keychain for as long as I can remember. If you’re clueless about drums, a drum key tunes the drums by tightening the rods and hoops that attach the drumheads to each drum shell. (see fig. 1)


When I first was learning, I carried one because it was cool to be a drummer, and cool to have a set of keys (for a car, I mean). I liked the fact that I could appear as a serious drummer who needed to tune so many drums, that I kept a key ready at all times.

Later, I did it out of necessity. During and after college, I was playing constantly, and the pouch in my stick bag was unreliable, so I had it where I always knew I could find one.

Today I keep one on there for all of the above reasons, plus I don’t think I would recognize my keychain without one. It is as much a part of my DNA as my hazel eye color, so I’m sure I’ll forever carry a drum key. It’s truly one of those lifetime habits I hope to never break, ‘cause if I did, it might mean I’m not playing anymore.

I think it looks nice with my Millennium Falcon charm too.

Tales From the WB Lot

Working on the Warner Bros. Lot is fun, for no other reason than it's cool to be around soundstages and sets. My normal WB audio suite is across the Valley in the WB Animation building. About once a week, sometimes more, my duties take me to the Lot, but it's infrequent enough that I still think it's a treat when I drive on.

Every once in a while, you see someone famous walking between stages, etc, but for me it happens so rarely, I'm never able to prepare to be looking as cool as possible.

Today I had a session set up to layback audio for a handful of Looney Tunes shorts to new D5 masters. This is the last step I take in restoring the soundtracks for the DVD volumes. Once they're on the D5, the DVD authors take it from there.

I got a call from scheduling just before the session, asking if it's okay with me that they reschedule because a director had an emergency fix to make to a reel in his movie, and they would need the same room and operator I use. I jokingly said

"yeah, it's okay, but no one below the level of Steven Soderbergh."

The woman in scheduling said she didn't know who it was going to be. (I picked his name out of the air because I had recently seen his name on one of the same parking-place signs they put my name on when I come.)

Later on, Rick, who works on the picture side of the Looney Tunes restorations told me that it was Al Pacino that took my slot.

Pacino?

Okay, he qualifies.

So, does this mean that on Monday when I sit in the same chair I have always sat in, will now have the essence of Mr. Corleone? I'm feeling tougher already.

I wonder if he took my parking space too...

Happy New Year

2007 promises to be a remarkable year. There are many exciting projects, both film and music-related, that are going to take off this year, so it might be overwhelming at times too. Chana's novel will be making it's debut as well. At least it won't be boring!

I'll be back soon to talk about these projects, including the reunion concert theCalling put on Dec 29th in Dallas. It was a smash.

For now, I have to kick this cold... :(

A Legend Dies, But His Work Lives On

Joseph Barbera died today of natural causes at 12:15pm at his home in Studio City. He was 95.

I have had the privelege of working at the same building as he did for about 5 years. (yes, he did still come into work!) I didn't have a lot of contact with him, but the handful of times I did speak with him, I'll always remember.

We are still producing spin-off shows based on the characters he created many decades ago. This year's variety is called "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get A Clue".

GO HERE to view a post I wrote about him in April.

My Trip To Outer Space

I have nothing new to report about the film industry right now, so I thought I'd treat you to some photos from a recent family vacation.

The view over Africa was spectacular.

Accomodations were provided by the Mir Luxury Resort.

We stopped off at a nearby moon. (light-side)

Even though there is just one set of footprints in the moon-sand, I know He's carrying me.

Me, going out to take some more pics.