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Cessen's Ramblings

2009 - 07 - 30

Durian DVD Pre-Sale Started!

Exciting news! The Durian DVD pre-sale campaign has started!

You can pre-order the DVD here: Durian Open Movie DVD

And if you order before September 15th you get your name in the credits of the movie! :-)

2009 - 07 - 29

104 Degrees Fahrenheit

And 30% humidity.

I hate the weather this week. I could really go for some cold, clouds, and rain right about now.

2009 - 07 - 04

Sita Sings the Blues

I recently ran across a feature-length animated movie entitled "Sita Sings the Blues". One of the most surprising things about it is that it's released for free under the Creative Commons share-alike license. You can download it here:

http://www.sitasingstheblues.com

If you want to support it financially, you can also donate or buy the DVD.

It's a pretty fun treatment of the story of Sita, from the Indian epic "Ramayana".

What's most interesting to me about all of this is that originally Nina Paley, the artist behind the movie, wanted to release it through more traditional channels. But due to her experiences with licensing issues (involving music from the 1920's that she used heavily in the film), she became a Free Culture advocate.

2009 - 07 - 01

Out of Gas

Aaron and I visited Smurf and Sarah in Pullman last weekend. We had a great time catching up and doing all sorts of things. We went to see Pixar's "Up", which was pretty fun.

But as with all visits, it came to an end. Aaron and I packed up the car, hugged the natives goodbye, and drove off over the horizon.

Then we were pulled over by a cop. We hadn't noticed that the speed limit had changed, and thus were speeding. It was blazing hot, and we had to wait in the car for what seemed like forever while the policeman went and logged some variety of information.

Fortunately the policeman was understanding. We were strangers to this town, after all. And he gave us some directions we already had.

So off we went yet again. Aaron and I had a grand time talking about all manner of things, but particularly how I've actually become very judgmental of people based on appearance (it turns out that if you dress "nicely" or "trendy", then I'm far more likely to write you off as someone not worth knowing; but if you dress strangely or simply haven't put particular effort into your appearance, then I'm more likely to want to get to know you).

In any case, while we were talking we ended up on the down-side of a hill. Aaron then discovered something quite strange.

2009 - 06 - 20

Project Durian

I got onto Project Durian! Wootz!

I'll be leaving for Amsterdam probably late September/early October. The project is slated to last 6-9 months, depending on funding.

This really looks like it's going to be another awesome project. And in terms of artistic goals it definitely jives with me.

Also, yet again the team is made up of such extraordinary talent that it really humbles me. And anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm not easily humbled. ;-)

I hope I can live up to the expectations of the project!