Thursday, October 29, 2009

Zombies v Mummies

Just goofing around the other day a bunch of my coworkers and I decided that a movie where zombies battle mummies would be cool as hell.


-- Posted from my iPhone

Monday, October 26, 2009

Mythology II

For me the whole religion/god thing is an all or nothing deal.
I mean either everyone's god(s) exist or no one's god(s) exist.
A few basic premises (from my point of view):
First: the gods did not create us in their images. We create the gods in OUR image. Well, most of them anyhow.
Second: Gods have a life span (as do religions - but that's another thing altogether for another time). Look back through time. Take the caveman (or cave woman) sitting in the dark painting images of animals on the walls. I think the gods that are worshiped are born as simple things: woolly mammoths, wolves, clouds that create storms. They then begin to mature into animal-human hybrids (more animal than human), then they further evolve into human-animal hybrids (more human than animal). The next step is that they become entirely human (in form) and/or super-human (in size and abilities). The next step may be where we are right now: many of the old gods have been rolled up into one (or three) [at least in the Judeo-Christian-Muslim pantheons].
Third: I believe that the next evolution of gods is science. Scientists talk of finding a "god particle" and of over-arching theories that describe the universe (or multiverse) and its (their) internal workings. What difference is there between that and primitive man huddling in a cave trying to explain the thunder and lightning of the storm outside. I truly believe that religion and science will become one in the search for the creator(s); that string theory and tachyons and particle physics and quantum theory are the new gospels of an ever evolving religion.
Nuff said for now, methinks.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Mythology

Why is your god real and theirs isn't?

If you were able to go back in time and ask an Egyptian from 5000 years ago, or a Roman living under Caesar Augustus or a Spartan if their gods and goddesses were real and actually influenced the world they would believe as strongly and argue just as hard as a current day Christian, Muslim or Hindu. We look back and name these older and extinct religions “Myths” and “Mythologies”. But, how do we know that they are not as valid (or as ridiculous) as any of the current religions on this planet? In another 1000 or 3000 years will that populace look back and consider the Christian faith or the Muslim beliefs to be mythologies and their various fables, stories and parables to be myths? Will the stories we tell now and the legends we currently hold become the new religions?

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Light vs. Dark


In the U.S. we try to get darker. We bronze and tan and go to tanning salons and the beach and lay out. All in the name of getting that lovely golden brown glow to our skin. We have TV, radio and print ads all hawking things to make us darker.

In Singapore it is exactly the opposite. There are all kinds of ads on TV, in the newspaper, on the subway and buses selling products to make your skin lighter and whiter.

Just very interesting is all.

Wine Country - New Zealand Style


Seth and I spent the last few days of September and the first few days of October of 2009 in New Zealand visiting my in-laws - Meredith & Jerry and we had a great time.
We met up with them in Wellington where they are living for the year. We spent a couple of days hanging out in Wellington and then took a great 20 minute plane ride (in a small prop plane) over to Picton & Blenheim in the Marlsborough region of New Zealand wine country.
The best part of the plane trip over was that I got to sit in the co-pilot seat (so i guess I was God for about 20 minutes!) I have no idea how pilots actually take off and land as the "dashboard" must be 3 feet high with no possible way to actually see over it. It is a 3 foot tall by 6 foot long wall of dials, gauges & read out screens and it is cool as hell!
So we got into Picton early in the morning, rented a car and then headed into Blenheim to rent bikes to ride through wine country. We rented bikes at Wine Tours by Bike:
http://www.winetoursbybike.co.nz/

We hit 3 wineries and one brewery.
By the time we got on the bikes and got out to our first winery it was time for lunch. We started our Marlsborough tour at Allan Scott Winery (http://www.allanscott.com/ )where we had lunch and a glass of wine. I had a great penne with lamb and their Sauvignon Blanc and we ordered the rapsberry "cheesecake" and the blood orange creme brulee. (Cheesecake is in air quotes for a reason, but I'll explain about that at a later date.) The setting was quite nice. We sat out in a covered courtyard on these nice old wood slat tables and after lunch went into the tasting room to try some of their other wines. We tries a couple of their whites, one of their reds and their Blanc de Blancs (their Methode Traditionelle sparkling wine). The 2 that really stood out for me were the Sauvignon Blanc and the Blanc de Blancs. We then left Allan Scott and biked over to the brewery Moa (http://www.moabeer.co.nz/ )where we were met by the cutest little puppy ever. We did a sampling in their small but very charming tasting room/bar. The 2 young ladies behind the bar that were serving us did an exceptional job of pouring and describing the beers. They even let us know where we could get it in the States!
Once done there we biked over to the winery that makes m very favorite Sauvignon Blanc - Cloudy Bay (http://www.cloudybay.co.nz/Mainpage ). I actually fell in love with another of their whites while at the vineyard - their Te Koko white. (and this is saying a lot as I am generally a red drinker).
At this point we thought we were in pretty good shape. We had been biking most of the day and were not too tired. We felt that we had enough energy for one more vineyard. Well as we stared making our way from Cloudy Bay to our next destination the wind began to pick up an we spent the time riding from Cloudy Bay to Villa Maria biking into a pretty strong wind. But we were well rewarded.
When we got to Villa Maria (http://www.villamaria.co.nz/ ). We got to Villa Maria and were pretty exhausted after fighting against a pretty strong headwind. We tried a couple of their whites, which I thought were pretty average, and then we tried their Pinot Noir and were richly rewarded. I was pleasantly surprised. I really think Villa Maria makes a pretty outstanding Pinot Noir and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Once we finished at Villa Maria we returned out bikes and then headed back into Picton to via a scenic route that took us up into the hills of the sounds that surround Picton. We saw the most intense rainbow I have ever seen. It was a full rainbow and you could even see the most of the second rainbow above it. And the colors of the main rainbow were very intense, it was almost like a child''s drawing in terms of color intensity.
We then headed to check into the hotel, had a bit to eat at a charming Bistro in Picton. We all slept well that night and the next morning we caught a ferry back into Wellington. The ferry trip was a good 2-1/2 hours and took us through some of the most beautiful sounds in New Zealand.
Overall the trip to New Zealand wine country was amazing and I can't wait to do it again and see more of Marlsborough.
For pictures from our trip check out the photos I have online at Picassa:
http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinCardani/WineCountryInNewZealand#

Cheers

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

How Do You Create?


I have started thinking about how people in creative fields get their ideas from inside their heads and out into/onto their chosen medium(s).
This has led me to the following quetsions:
How do you create?
How does an idea start in your head?
How do you get that idea out of your head and into/onto your medium?
Where do your richest/strongest/most intense ideas come from?
How do your ideas germinate?
Is this line of questioning ruining your creative process?

People I would like to ask this question of:
Jimmy Pickering
Craig Hanna
Joss Whedon
Zane Jensch
Jeremy Railton
Dave Cobb
Sam Lundquist
David Wally
Tim Burton
Neil Gaiman
Gwen Ballantyne
Robbie Williams
Annie Lennox
Kevin Smith
J. Michael Strascynski
Steve Olson
Scott Zuber
Scott Sinclair
John Barone
Alex Ross
Bill T Jones
The Pilobolus guys
Chuck Lorre
Eric Parr
Dave McKean

Man Shoveling Water



This video shows a guy shoveling water into a wheel barrow in order to move it to some other location on site.

This way of working is pretty common here. You see people working on the latest high tech modern buildings, but working in a very old fashioned, simple straightforward way.

I don't yet know what it all means, but it IS pretty interesting.

That's all I got for now.

Ciao.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

WETA Cave


Posted by Picasa
Seth and I spent a week in New Zealand visiting my sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Meredith & Jeremy Moreno.
While we were there we got to go to the WETA Cave.
http://www.wetanz.com/cave/
WETA is the place where Peter Jackson and company created the props, models, costumes & effects for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong and a number of other films & TV shows.
WETA Cave is pretty cool, even though it really is mainly a gift shop that also has a 20 minute video on a large flat screen TV. The video talks about the history of WETA and the people there who create the effects and what not. The Cave is in what looks like a large house in a sort of combination warehouse park & suburb. There are a few other soundstages & warhouses that are industry related in the area.
Unfortunately, but for obvious IP sensitive reasons, they really cannot do a full tour of the facilities. So, while it's got some pretty cool props, artwork, maquettes et cetera, it really is just a gift shop.
Nonetheless we had a grea time. To see more images from our trip and our visit to the WETA Cave check out my pictures on picassa at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinCardani/WETACave#

Friday, October 16, 2009

Racist Bastard


Okay. So I am in Sinagpore and really haven't been following the news back home (crazy busy art directing this project and all doesn't leave much time for news watching) but this whole interracial marrige fiasco is ridiculous.
My only comment to this is:
I don't care what excuse that bastard of a justice of the peace gave for his decision - he is a racist bastard and should be removed from that office.
(And then run out of town and burned in effigy)

Nuff said.