Kid Millions makes a debut, Rarebit Fiends

Dinnertime VOs led to this little quickie.  

Surfs Up! from thebiz on Vimeo.

Something to show the fam and nice to work on something not involving a man in a monster suit.  And speaking of which, Im realizing I wont meet the July 1 deadline for Monsters of the Atomic Age and so the RL Scifi contest is out for me.  A recent re-interest in Fallout 3 and an urge for Red Dead Redemption are making me wonder if it will ever see the light of day.  I've thought a lot about cutting it into two parts as I could finish the first half in a couple of weeks and take a break (probably would be a good thing to clean out the cobwebs) before diving into the second part. However, this would leave both parts lacking and much less than their summation.  Decisions, decisions.


In other idea news, a recent preview of Wolf's second scifi pack has me reconsidering another attempt at  HG Wells Lord of the Dynamos (especially the pic in the first post...thats the set I wanted to build...hmmm) and a recent blog entry from Matthew Barry has me thinking a lot about Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend (not just the Porter short but also the running comic serial - kind of like a turn of the century twilight zone).


And I almost forgot, I got my first five star review of a sketchup model (to go along with the only other review Ive recieved - one star..hehe).  The oscar stage is ok but I think this snow sled is the best thing Ive done yet.  Certainly not professional but not bad.

Maps and Digital Voodoo

Been busy lately with both real world and Iclone work.  Not looking too promising on me getting Monsters completed by my self imposed July deadline, though I am making progress and will continue to try.  I have no idea how folks pull off these big projects in so little time.  Hindering some of my efforts is the fact that about 1 in every 5 times I open up my HP laptop, the laptop fires up but the screen remains blank (there are three loud beeps - one long, two short).   Ive already sent the laptop back to HP for a new motherboard about a year ago and now the (already extended) warranty is up.  So Ive done a bunch of research on the issue and found out that  if I wrap the laptop up in a blanket and let it overheat before rebooting then I get it too work again.  Talk about weird voodoo computing.  Just hoping to finish this production before looking at something from Dell.  No more HPs for me.


And now for something completely different, here's a pair of interactive maps from the New York Times.  Im a bit of a Geographic information Systems kinda guy so I'm a sucker for a good old interactive map.  Plus points for demographic info.


New York Times Immigration Explorer - Watch how the foreign born settled into the U.S from 1880 forward.  Tell me it aint cool.

Taxi cab pickups in Manhattan (below 60th street) by day and hour - Like blood circulating through the city.  Watch those late night weekend location to see where the drunken revelry happens.