Well, most of the weekend was spent finishing our set up of the new office space. The new locale is nice because we’ve not only got a lot more room, but also a fridge, microwave and our old toaster oven. What that means is that I finally bought groceries and am getting back to a reasonably sane diet.

The reason why this newsletter is late is because we don’t have our internet connection up and running at the office just yet. I’m typing this on my break at school.

School is getting crazy. My first crop of students will be graduating at the end of the month and getting them ready is proving to be quite difficult. Of course, the equipment needed to put their work on video is fritzing at this crucial point and because the office is backed up with work, Nick has got me teaching all 5 days. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the teaching thing, but 10 hours a day of it for 5 days is uber-stressful.

I don’t think the students understand how important it is to really excel during this crunch time. I think they’re just coasting through it. Maybe I’m a little too bonkers when it comes to animation…but if this what they want to do for their career, now’s the time to prove it.

I can’t wait until my cousin’s wedding on June 12th. I’m booking my flight in the next day or two and I’m hoping to take at least a week off to visit friends and family around Toronto. It’s going to be hard getting around without a car. I was spoiled when Kandrix and I came for the Sheridan show and we had a rental.

All in all, I’m doing okay…I just need a little more sleep. And, it would help if it wasn’t snowing today. YES, IT’S SNOWING TODAY. But, knowing Calgary…it’ll be shorts weather tomorrow.

Until next week….

Finally, a relaxing weekend! All the preparation is finished and I’m ready for my business trip into Toronto/Oakville. I’ve got my new business cards all printed up and finished my laundry (trust me, it’s a tough haul).

We had our mighty company barbeque and although it started off scary, it went well. We had cheaped out and bought crappy charcoal briquettes that WOULD NOT LIGHT. If you can picture it, 12 guys all being macho gorillas and trying to start the fire…some waving paper plates to build the air up, others jamming wood and paper in and lighter fluid and matches, it was pretty bad. Then, Nick and Ken went out and got real briquettes while Donovan and I got the old ones to light up anyways.

Then, when the fire was started, Mieka almost blew us all up. She squirted a whole bunch of lighter fluid into the barbeque without looking and the flame shot up towards the nozzle of the bottle.

James and I blew out the flame before the “bomb” went off and after that Mieka was permanently off of cooking duty. We’re all calling her the little pyro now. It’s funny now, but at the time, I almost crapped myself.

Luckily, after that everything went amazing. Beautiful weather, great people and a celebration of the mind numbing hours we put into the company. Lots of hamburgers, hot dogs, Miami style ribs and lastly, toasted marshmallows. I think our new Computer Animator guy Ron wasn’t used to our antics, but we definitely had him laughing.

After I return from the Sheridan Open House I’ll be reorganizing my stuff at the new office and getting some “Jimbo” time to relax and get ready for the summer.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO:
I’ve been on a HUGE kick for the Cardigans this week. The Cardigans did that hit Lovefool a couple years ago, but I like their other songs much better. I’ve got 3 of their albums: Emmerdale, First Band on the Moon and Gran Turismo and they are all excellent. I have a hard time listening to albums all the way through, but the Cardigans kick butt.

WHAT I’M READING:
This week has mainly been too busy for reading. I’m planning on going to some comic book stores in Toronto with Ken, so maybe I’ll pick up something cool there.

WHAT I’M WATCHING:
I saw a hideous piece of animation known as the Hercules and Xena animated movie. It’s depressing seeing something this bad get funding and staff getting paid for producing crap. Oh well…the song the villains sing is hilarious, but not because it’s intended that way.

Next week I have some very big news that I can’t talk about right now. I hope people’s minds don’t wander about this too much. I’ll let you all know as soon as I can, but at this point it’s still hush-hush.

Let’s see, another exciting week in the world of Zub.

After months of trying to reorganize our office, I can proudly announce that Aurenya is moving to more convenient and much more spacious office space on May 1st. We’ve been meaning to do this for a long time and with all of the other thing son our plate it just hasn’t come about until now. The coolest part of this is that the boys will be moving us while Kandrix and I are in Toronto, saving us the headache of moving day 🙂

With the new place, we’ll have more than enough power for the fridge, microwave and toaster oven that were a part of our Aurenya life back in the first office space we had. Looks like Toaster Strudels and Pizza Pops are back on the menu 🙂

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO:
I treated myself this week with some purchases I’m all proud of. Firstly, I picked up the soundtrack to The Big Chill, which is filled with all kinds of 60’s and 70’s music. My Aunt Edith showed me that movie when I was living at her place and it really means a lot to me in terms of growing up and friendships I’ve had. So, hearing those tunes, even though I wasn’t around when they originally came out, is kind of cool.

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
I’m back in to reading comics and two of the books I’m currently reading are really, really strange, but pleasing as well. The first one is Preacher and it’s a VERY VIOLENT but extremely satisfying experience. Not a book for everyone. It’s a wild, blasphemous adventure when a preacher gets possessed by a demonic spirit and he goes on a road trip to find God. That’s about all I can say without revealing too much. Check it out at your own risk because it’s definitely ‘R’ rated as far as content goes.

The other one is one that my friends Dav and Stacy had told me about a long time ago, but I hadn’t picked up until now. It’s called The Invisibles and is also very crazy and over the top like Preacher. Every conspiracy theory, from aliens to the occult are true and a group of freedom fighters of all sorts of backgrounds are trying to take control away from an overpowering evil. Very cool and again not for everyone especially the easily offended.

I can’t believe that I’ll be back in TO in just over a week. It’s scary and wonderful and I hope I can do all the things I want to before it’s all over.

After the Sheridan Open House, things will be calming down around the office as we prep for summer and I’m set to get out and have a social life. The goal this summer is to do more artwork for myself and meet some great new people.

The entire staff, both the people on board and the people we’ve been interviewing for new positions, are going to be getting together next Saturday for Kurt’s going-away party. Kurt’s one of our animators and a real workhorse and we’re sad to see him go. He’s heading back to Sheridan to complete his Summer Animation school training and I’m positive he’s going to make big waves there. A lot of the summer students don’t draw enough in their off-months, but Kurt’s been plugging away here and his progress is amazing. So, it’s a good time to celebrate the company as a whole and get everyone pumped for the trip Kandrix and I are taking. All told, there will be about 40 people there. Now that I think about it, we’re growing fast!

So, with all of that, it’s been a busy week as always and I’m looking forward to the next one and the summer approaching.

Until next week…

Another week, and more stuff….

This week was good for drawing and I’ll be posting up new artwork at my site really soon. As always, my time is limited, so I haven’t really had much of a chance.

I did a little animation piece for Chromacolour International, the company that supplies Disney, Dreamworks and all the other feature guys their paper and pencils. It’s for a demo program they’ve got running on their webpage.

The exposure sure can’t hurt at all. They didn’t want too much in terms of high quality, but it’s good to have my name out there just the same. Keep in mind that it’s VERY SHORT and not all too impressive, I just wanted people to know that I’d done work on it.

I went and saw The Matrix on Tuesday and overall I thought it was a blast. It’s not deep and meaningful, it’s just fun. There’s lots of crazy action and wild, outrageous scenes that work well with the medium. Don’t look for deep plot and stuff, just go in for the visuals. Only some of the people on this mailing list will catch this reference, but the movie is very “SHUI”(pronounced SHWEEE)… and I’ll leave it at that.

Nickelodeon is doing a movie adaptation of one of my favorite comics called Bone and I’m thinking that since they are out-sourcing a lot of animation work, that Aurenya will try and get in on the action. If it turns out, I’ll be tickled pink and be a part of a really, really cool thing. The concept work I’ve seen on the film is really nice and from all indications, it looks like a project to be proud of.

This summer is going to be a heavy one in terms of cool movies. Mononoke Hime, Austin Powers 2, Star Wars, Tarzan and Iron Giant are all ones I’m eager to check out on the big screen.

My docs are falling apart and when I go to Toronto, I have to buy new shoes. These ones have been around for a long time and they are DYING. I want to do quite a bit of shopping in TO if I get the chance…

Otherwise, things are good and I’m enjoying a cold Strongbow cider while typing this. The work schedule is always hectic and my laundry’s piling up, but I’m doing OK.

So, until next week…

This week’s gone well and although the work schedule’s always crazy… we managed to pull together a little outing that will make up most of this newsletter.

We pulled together the entire staff and went to see the new animated King and I movie on Tuesday night.

Let me describe this for you. The late show on a Tuesday night in Calgary for a kid’s movie is perfect. Our staff of 20 were the ONLY people in the theatre. That means that all hell broke loose and we screamed, publicly critiqued, and had straw fights until the movie ended. It was amazing.

The King and I was EASILY the WORST animated feature I have ever seen, but the company being there and the commentary we made kept the film fun. If you want to feel good about your skills as an animator, even if you’ve never drawn a picture before in your life, check this flick out. ANYBODY can make a better movie than this.

The computer graphics were laughable and the dialogue was disturbing. I found out that the director of The King and I was the same man who brought us Disney’s The Black Cauldron. That would make sense.

After it was all over we took a huge group photo of our staff in front of the cheesy cardboard display for the movie. When it gets processed, I’ll post the photo up at my website.

In other news, Nick and I are pulling together a series of night courses to offer students starting in June. So, we’ve been crunching curriculum material and organizing the projects we’ll be giving to the students.

I’ll be revamping the personal art section of my website with loads of new stuff. I haven’t had a chance to really concentrate on getting that updated, but I will soon.

As we head in to April, I realize I’ve been in Calgary for almost a year now. It’s hard to believe the time has gone by so fast. So many things are going on here and I wonder where the time went. I’ve been so busy, I still don’t know the city very well and if somebody dropped me off in a random part of the city, I’d be lost for sure.

Until next week…

This newsletter of sorts is something that has sort of cropped up as a necessity. I’ve been getting more and more e-mails from my friends and family stating that I’ve been really bad for staying in touch with people. I truly regret not being able to respond promptly to e-mails that I get or let people know how I’m doing. So… to make a long story short, this may seem impersonal, but at least people will know how I am and what’s going on in my life on a weekly basis without feeling like I’m totally ignoring them.
I hope that if you’re on this list of people which I’m sending this e-mail to, that you want to know what’s new with me and that you don’t mind getting a slightly generic view of the whole thing. I’ve been getting over 40 e-mails a day between work and personal stuff and it’s getting to be way too much to juggle without something like this. I hope you understand.

If you know of anyone else who would want to be on this list, or if you just want me to leave you alone and don’t want to receive this weekly update, just let me know.

So, without further ado… let’s see how this goes.

ZUBBY NEWSLETTER March 20th, 1999

This week’s been a blur of work and craziness.

Aurenya has been progressing well and morale at the studio is at an all time high. We’re getting geared up for the Sheridan Open House at the end of the month. It’s going to be great to see friends there and see what the students have produced in their third year.

The teaching gig continues without a hitch and it’s a real confidence booster seeing what the students are able to produce in our classroom. Even though the training that they’ve received is limited compared to the 3 year Sheridan program, their work is very high quality and I’m proud of what they’re capable of. We’re organizing a possible intern program with the students and it’s got the whole studio excited.

I’m setting up a possible comic book contract with a small independent publisher. He checked out my artwork and was really impressed with the quality of my work. It looks like I’ll be doing a 4 page back story in his comic. It’s a great experience and I’d really like to get published. I’ll let all of you know when I have the details.

St. Patrick’s Day was a much needed rest and I definitely celebrated the Irish holiday in the proper tradition. I met up with my friend Jordie at an Irish pub called Kaeli’s and danced and imbibed. It went well… Strongbow was on tap and I was quite pleased.

Between all the upcoming work and my cousin’s wedding in June, the next few months are going to just keep getting interesting. I really want to organize another trip to Banff for the staff here at Aurenya. I think with our current schedule, we’ll need the break.

So, brief but to the point. I hope this helps me start staying in touch better. Until next time…