Welcome back to the newsletter. By the time this goes to press, I may finally have a job offer; if not, at least three other opportunities have expressed interest beyond first-interview stage, which is very encouraging. While not a done deal, at least my brain is considerably less-stressed than it was in December, so on that note, let's dive into the latest happenings...
Concerning Bud the Fish...
https://youtube.com/shorts/HpsyEyG8Bp4
Sorry, can't help buy chuckle at that one... hehehe... this song is the FIRST one I've ever made that received a down vote on YouTube, which makes it even funnier!
Anyway, a little context: for the past few months I've been trying to come up with formats I can use to blend the Roadkill Puppy side of life with Bud the Fish -- a tall ask, I agree, certainly when it comes to the cartoony things I usually do. One thing I have to work with is a massive stockpile of old guitar riffs and song ideas from my ancient days as a gigging musician; in fact, I have a CD full of ideas I burned decades ago, containing among other things partial songs from around 1992, if you can believe it. Many are absolute trash, but quite a few others have held on for dear life in hopes that someday, somehow the big, spinning wheel of life would land on a time and place where they could finally blossom. Yeah, yeah, creative debt bad, I know, I get it, but we'll see who gets the last laugh ha ha... anyway, since I've been gifted with so many musical "riches", and since I have a plethora of silly cartoon ideas that haven't magically morphed into a finished comic or something, I figure why not mash them together. This particular song actually came from fresh brew, a little nothing riff that popped into my brain the week before and I had kicked around without any real direction; Mother Nature provided a bit of inspiration and here we are. Creating a template in POV-Ray I can use for future animated films took up the most time, but even with that it still came together relatively quickly, and I have something I can cross off my music to-do list, so hardy-har-har to YOU, YouTube Down-Voter Person...
Now, on to the EP.. while the video was a momentary diversion, the rest of my musical creative activities was focused on making new tracks. The previous EP candidates that were dead in the water have been relegated to the boneyard for now; they're actually alive and well for the most part, but they just don't have enough meat on the bones for consideration right now. In their place, three fresh songs swooped in; one of those ideas has been tracked out and is hanging out with the previously-finished pair awaiting mixdown, while the remaining two newbies are currently sitting at the 50%-complete stage. Two of the three are very ethereal, atmospheric, while the third one wants to knock your teeth down your throat. Tasty stuff. Whether the EP features the brand-new material or tracks from the vault remains to be seen. More to come...
Concerning Roadkill Puppy...
Back to our little animated doohickey above: the original drawings came from my journal; I just scanned them, dumped them onto my older iPad (the one the Pencil is mated with), then used Procreate to clean up the scruffy bits:
I've got some finished animated films I worked on over the month, films utilizing the CGI process I've used in the past (no, POV-Ray is NOT A.I. -- it's stuff I actually have to code by hand!). These films are awaiting some ambient-style music to partner up with, or something. Again, more to come...
Bits and Bobs...
The better half and I got around to seeing "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" last month, so I've finally caught up with the hype that was going around. "Barbie" was cute, I'll give it that; "Oppenheimer" was...wow. VERY impressive! I'm a huge fan of Christopher Nolan -- no director today can manipulate the space-time continuum and weave it into a story with his skill. Amazing... there's a hefty stack of other Oscar nominees to go through, but "Oppenheimer" has set a pretty high bar, I'm just sayin'...
That's it for this month. The second half of January was warmer than usual, and that means February will probably bring the pain. Winter is the best! Take care, my friends...
Dan