Farewell George Jones

It is sad to hear that country legand George Jones passed away on April 26th.

In honor of George and his legacy, Don't rock the jukebox, I wanna hear some Jones.

Rest peacfully George.

Set Your Calendars- Free Comic Book Day

Yes, You heard it right, Free Comic Book day is upon us.

 

May 4th, 2013

 

Head over to your local Comic book shop for some free Comic Book Goodness!

While your there check out some of the great titles available... like X-Men, Avengers, Batman, Superman, and SO many more great books.

 

Be sure to check it out!

 

 

 

Olympus has Fallen

We went to see the latest entry from Morgan Freeman and Gerard Butler, Olympus has fallen. 

"When the White House (Secret Service Code: "Olympus") is captured by a terrorist mastermind and the President is kidnapped, disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning finds himself trapped within the building. As our national security team scrambles to respond, they are forced to rely on Banning's inside knowledge to help retake the White House, save the President and avert an even bigger crisis. Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) directs an all-star cast featuring Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, Ashley Judd and Rick Yune."

The movie is action packed but sadly all of the events take place at night, thus leaving us with a dark picture most of the time.  A lot of the action takes place with some small degree of back lighting, sometimes very small.  We both liked the movie but wish perhaps it could have been lit a little more.

Worth the price of a matinee.

Tell me what you thought of the film.

CJ

March 2013 already!?!/

And so here it is...March 2013.  This year is flying by with reckless abandon and I have not posted once..Not Once!  What the heck was I thinking??

Witht hat in mind here is whats on my mind right now.

In April We will be attending the Local horror con, Motor City Nightmares.  I went last year and it was fun so made it a point that even though we have SO much to do at home we will go and enjoy the Horror of the local film scene.  Might even dress up..we will see ;)

Be sure to check out the site and attend this home grown local event!

 

 

We went to see Oz: The Great and Powerful last weekend.  Over all I enjoyed the movie and it was nice to see something made in Michigan again.  I really think KNB Efx did a great job with the makeup, they are a Very talented group of make up artists.  I enjoyed that Oz was a vaudeville Magician and the back story he had.

 

My 6 yr old Daughter enjoyed it as well as my 17 yr old son, so it's a movie good for all ages. 

 

Check it out.



Merry Christmas

From our Family to yours,  we wish you a Very Merry Christmas!

Halloween 2012

As some of you may know by now, Tamara and I had a Halloween Party on October 13th.  Well it was a Halloween Party/Wedding.  The fun part was the wedding was not mentioned in the invitations and only a handful of people knew what was going to happen.  You see, we love Halloween, and wanted to get married in costumes, is there a better way?   We did however decide to do the Cliched thing of dressing up as Frankenstein's Monster and the Bride of Frankenstein.  We did this with a variation however.  She went with straight hair and I was not green.  Later my 5 yr old daughter would say, "maybe next time you should be green".  I will try this on a future application of the makeup, for her. =D

Here is my quick outline of the steps it took to create my makeup.  I used a silicone gel filled appliance, which was very cool and flesh like.  It was also the first attempt so I learned A LOT.

It was a great time all the way around.

Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions for next time.  (The makeup not the getting married part, we're done with those.  I am the luckiest man on the planet)

Little Jeff Dunham Dummy!!!!

It is finally available.  After quite some time in design and production, Jeff Dunham has released "Little Jeff'.  This is going to be THE Holiday gift for aspiring ventriloquists, Ventriloquist figure collectors, and Jeff Dunham fans alike.  With Moving mount AND eyes this is a professional featured figure at an Very affordable price.

You can get yours from Tom Ladshaws Gottle O'Geer website along with all the great collectible for the ventriloquist on your Christmas list. 

Check it out today!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our Family to yours. Wishing you a Very Happy Thanksgiving. Take some time from the busy hectic days and spend it with others and enjoy yourselves. This is a time to be thankful for what we have and not worry about that which we do not. Enjoy the conversation with family and friends, cherish these moments.

Please, while enjoying precious time with your family and friends, take a moment to remember those who cannot be home this Thanksgiving because they are deployed over seas and away from their loved ones.

Happy Thanksgiving!

p.s. According to legend, Benjamin Franklin wanted the Turkey to be our national bird. What do you think we would be eating on Thanksgiving if that had happened?

Steve Johnson & Stan Winston School of Character Arts

Now if you have questioned whether or not to join the Stan Winston School of Character Arts stop waiting and sign up now. For the month of October they are having a special for 50% off streaming, DVD's, & Merch. Just use the discount code HALLOWEEN at check out. Now, the newly added video features Steve Johnson Legendary makeup artist and Creature Effects Fabricator Bill Bryan doing some awsome stuff! Now, get your but over the the website and check it out! Here is the preview

MIB 3 interview with Makeup Master RIck Baker

I found this interview with Rick Baker and wanted to share it. It's always fun to learn more about what goes into creating a makeup or creature. Enjoy!

Great Howard Berger Interview

Here is a fantastic interview with Howard Berger of KNB FX talking about the makeup FX industry and the Stan Winston School for character arts. Enjoy!

Count Down to ParaNorman T-12

T-12 days Happy SUnday Blog-o-sphere! have you ever wanted to be an animator? Have you ever wondered what it was like to make a movie one frame at a time? Well here is your chance. The ParaNorman website has a VERY COOL section where you can do just that. Check it out and show us what you make: http://www.paranorman.com/#open/stop-motion-zombie-lab have fun..see y'all tomorrow!

Count Down to ParaNorman T-13

T-13 days to ParaNorman Release on August 17th, 2012! With the Onlympics going on this was a great clip put out by Laika for ParaNorman. Be sure to get your best zombie outift on and get ready to head to the theaters. (ok...even if you don't wear a zombie costume you should go see it August 17th) Let's Support our Stopmotion animators.

Count down to ParaNorman T-14

T-15 days to ParaNorman Release August 17th, 2012 Here is a great clip with the Director Sam Fell. I think most of us would LOVE to "Play" for a living as well. If we're not doing what we love each and every day of our lives I thnk we need to be doing something every day to get closer to that dream. I guess it's time for me to make room to set up my animation table and get my puppets moving again. :) Have a Great day!

Count down to ParaNorman T-15

T-15 days and counting. Here is the official Trailer. How can you not be excited about this Stop motion movie release? I know my whole family is wanting to go on opening day..and we will :) Enjoy

Count down to ParaNorman T-16

Agust 1st, 2012 and only 16 days until ParaNorman releases in Theaters. This looks to be another Winning film by Laika Studios done in Wonderful stop motion animation! I am excited to see the newest creations of this creative tams and in watching some of the trailers I see some of the folks from Stopmotionanimation.com in them. Exciting! Join me in the countdown won't you. and be sure to check out their website for lots of cool downlaods and behind the scenes clips.

Paranorman Coming soon! WOOT!

Here is a great video of making Norman.

Check it out and then be sure to go see the movie August 17th!

While you're waiting to see the movie, go check out the official website. http://www.paranorman.com/ CJ

2012 Vent Haven Ventriloquist ConVention

Well another great Ventriloquist conVention has come and gone.  This year proved to be a wonderful time!  The ConVention was held in a new location, The Greater Cincinnati airport Marriot, which is actually in Heron Kentucky.  The new venue was great!  The airconditioning worked, the rooms were clean and comfortable, and everyone was in such a better mood as result of it.  This year my mother joined us and had a good time watching the shows and meeting new dummies and their vent figures too.

The Lectures were good, the dealers rooms were packed full of goodies, and the restaurant was in the hotel as well making it a one stop trip for most.  It was nice to get to see Tom ladshaw and his wonderful better half Leslye Hunter.  Tom is the premier ventriloquist historian, I am amazed at his wealth of knowledge on the subject.  Jeff Dunham gave his annual lecture on ways to improve our acts and art.  He then garciously signed for all those in line, yes were got in line too. :)

The Museum tours are always a wonderful highlight of the trip.  Be sure to check it out if your in the northern kentucky area, or even if your not, it's WORTH THE TRIP!

Be sure to check out the cool new logo items the Museum has as well, like this rockin' hat modeled here. ;)

Check out the Museum website for more information.  www.venthavenmuseum.com

We are looking forward to next year already!  Be sure to mark the days on your calendar  July 17-20, 2013.

Rush- Clockwork Angels

The latest Album(CD) CLOCKWORK ANGELS, has been out for a week now and it is Great. 
Back to a style of the past the whole album is a story.
Great music with some new and old sounds.

Pick it up, you won't be dissapointed.

Here is an interview with Geddy Lee about the new album.

Here is a wonderful interview with Candice Bergen on the Rock Center Show with Brian Williams. Candice is best known for her role on the hilarious comedy Murphy Brown also known by many as Charlie McCarthy's little sister. The daughter to Great Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, Candice grew up in a household filled with the wonder and sarcasm of Edgar and Charlie. In my youth I always envied her and how she was around the duo. As she states she wasn't always as enamoured. Enjoy this great interview and tell us wat you think.

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