Disney turns world to unknown

The funniest email I received today is from an former colleague at Singapore Press Holdings. The was a link www.sun7news.com and when I clicked it...

So if you are ever wondering what I did last year in L.A., you got your answer. ;p
:O)

Boxing Day

When I was way younger, during the time of the movie series Rocky, I thought that the sport of boxing was like THE international sport of the world! It even had a day to commemorate it!

This Christmas, I spent a lot of time with my relatives! It's rarely that I go for such gatherings. So rare that I was surprised to see some of my relatives, especially my younger cousins look so different because they're all so grown up!

In other news, the Nativity scene at Holy Family was ready and in time to receive her new born King! At least 30 hands were involved in this massive project. If I had not have had the help, I'd still be working on the crib today... thank you all for the help!!



Was particularly proud of the lamp I had worked on. A brand new lamp made to look like it went thru' a long journey to get here, with soot, sand and rust all over. ( I feel as if I'm an Imagineer working on the updated Pirates of the Caribbean ride! ;p ) It's placed in a very obscure place as that is not the centre of attraction.


BTW, the set is NOT complete... stay tuned!

The End is Near!!!

Whenever a solar eclipse occurred way back in the good old days... say 4000 years ago, I'm sure that without the sophisticated measuring instruments that we have since the last century, people probably thought that the world was going to end. In ancient China, whenever the eclipse occurred, they believed that a legendary celestial dragon devours the moon! It was tradition that the Chinese used to bang and drum pots to frighten this dragon away!!

It's definitely not the end here. Only God knows when that is. In fact, in the following week, we will celebrate a new beginning. A beginning of hope.

Maranatha!


I was rendering some test on this simulated model of a solar eclipse in motion using Photoshop's new 3D tool. What used to take weeks of render, now can be done in a couple of minutes. Amazing how Adobe Photoshop has grown in 20 years!

Cave buidling

On the side, I've been working on a cave. A Nativity scene in fact to house baby Jesus when he comes into the world. Frame work is done by the handyman Raymond from the Art Ministry. It's the first free standing structure I have worked on... I think. Can't wait for Sunday to complete the project. Actually, I only got Sunday left.

O come, o come, Emmanuel!

Hands down

Weeks back, I had a bright spark for a project. It came instantaneously. Wooooossssh! And Woooosssshhh! It went out the door. I personally thought it was apt - the trademark of my client (hands) and the concept for the festive season was ONE in the form of an illustration. But due to issues mostly regarding religious sensitivity, the idea was further expanded, thus watering down the impact of the message.

Let's Dance!

This is probably the first! The first I have seen anyways. A dance medley replacing the traditional wedding march in. Click on The Workshop to view the 3-min sequence. It was fun and it broke all the rules of what should and should not be. All done in the spirit of creativity and with sincerity! Cheers and God bless to the wedding couple! :O)

You know Dasher...

A new year has begun... a new year in the Church's calendar that is!! And in the air the smell of the season of giving! All around, shops are beautifully adorned with lights and trinkets. And YEAH... many would say the festive period has become somewhat commercialised, but that's just the marketing aspect of business.

It is still truly a time of giving!! Companies pay out bonuses, gifts are exchanged, works of charity are bountiful during this time of year. Many many years ago, I started making these during Christmas to hand out. This year, I saw them appear again, but together in ready-made packages with chenilles as antlers, googly eyes and a puffy nose! I decided to work over time at the Imaginative Factory to churn these out again to remind people of the spirit of the season - GIVING, FUN, and creativity! :O)

Art junkie 3

Here's Behind The Scenes at the making of Wall•E...

Incidentally, the making of the movie took 4 years at Pixar which is nothing compared to what I went through. Watching "The Pixar Story" By Leslie Iwerks (grand daughter of Ub Iwerks) on DVD was an incredible 90-min experience! Very moving and touching what the pioneers of this innovative company had to go through. Indeed, there is no such thing as an overnight succcess. Keeps me moving forward in what I do at The Imaginative Factory...

Art junkie 2

Sorry this took so long. A lot happening at the Imaginative Factory lately. New software testing, new books to read, more amendments. But at last, it's done. :O)

Did you guess what it was? It's true that one person's junk is another's treasure! Doesn't this make you wanna re-look what you have at home or at the work station?

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated today in the U.S. of America. I am thankful for this gift of creativity to share with the world! What are you thankful for?

Art junkie

So what do you do if you are tied down working hard on projects and need to take a break but can't go very far?

You find scraps around the house and make something out of it! :O) This exercise is great for those in brainstorm mode. You may think you're wasting time, but it does wonders when you get back to your work bench.

Any guesses what I'm building? Started on this yesterday. It's been a week of ideas generating at the Imaginative Factory. More here...

Shalom Resort

Welcome to Shalom Resort!

About 15 mins away from St Theresia Asrama in Rempang, it's tucked nicely away from everything in the island of Galang. Nicknamed the Kelong it is run by Andrew Kang. It took him eight months, 12 men and a couple of investors to get this place going.


It's a good place for retreats or just to run away to for the weekend! It has 36 beds... but who wants beds when you have the nice cool jetty to sleep on with the wonderous night sky and all the stars you can ever dream of looking down on you? Let me not even begin with the meals that the lady in the kitchen prepares... drool.

More pictures to be developed in the Darkroom.

If you are interested, let me know and I'll hook you up with him!

Rempang Update (2)

More good news from Rempang!

To our delight, the Indonesian government stepped in to assist in building the lives of those who live in the Asrama. There was a site under construction with three classrooms nearly half done.


What used to be a plain open field of wild grass is now a sizable plot of land that has some form of a farming infrastructure formed, growing vegetables and melons for local consumption. And of course, if there are extras, the Asrama can sell those!


The huge malls in Batam island (some 45 mins away) own land in Rempang (just the next island to Batam) and has allowed the asrama to loan some 2 hectares of land for their agricultural needs. That's about 20,000 sq metres of land!


We surveyed the terrain and found it covered with a very dense jungle with all the slimy creepy crawlies one can think of! Not to mention, a wet, squeeshy, and very undulating ground! The soil is excellent for plantation, but the cost of clearing the obstacles may not be a practical thing to do!

Rempang Update (1)

My last two days were spent in Rempang. It was great being back there to check on developments and to see familiar faces. 14 of us from various christian denominations with different backgrounds ranging from micro managing to agricultural expertise came together to see how we could help each other assist our neighbours here in the Rempang vicinity! On another level, it's good to know that God's bringing all His children together setting aside theological differences to come work together. Praise God! :O)

Our first stop was to check on the fish breeding area.


When the catfish surfaced, we got terrible excited! Healthy looking and salable catfish mature at the rate of 30 days and are shipped off to the local market. A portion is kept for the Asrama's (boarding home) consumption.


The boys dorm that caught fire and was burnt down about 3 months back is 90% repaired.


The tapioca planted 6 months ago look so much better than the ones I grew at the Art Ministry immediately when I got back from the last trip in May!


Overall progress from what we left Rempang in six months back looks good. Will be posting more updates in the coming days...

No piece of cake - part 2

Madness!!

It was a day of applying Murphy's law! What could go wrong, went wrong!! :O) It started the day before when I went to the cake store to buy the base for the cake. The shop was closed.

9.00am
The next day when I went there, they didn't have the right size. So I had to buy the larger ones and trim them to size.


11.00am
The rainbow coated frost mix took really long to apply, so it was back to the shop to get the plain vanilla frost.

3.00pm
Finished the first batch of 16. I boxed them up, dashed out to the print shop to get the labels done. It must have been project assignment due day, cos' there were so many art students packed inside the print shops at Sunshine Plaza!

3.30pm
Headed down to Cana to do the paste ups!

4.00pm
Handed Cana the first 2 boxes and then off to NUS and SPH! By evening, I had covered the East stretch of the island, completely hand delivering the first batch by 930pm.

Phew! How's that for madness? Doing something not usually your regular routine? Thanks, mom, for the help in the pantry and the noon delivery! Wanna see the final product? It's on The Workshop blog!

AND... ACTION!

Today was day one of a two day film school for me. The instructor is none other than the #1 film instructor in the United States (voted by National Association of Film School)... Dov Simens! He can tell straight up that he's a rotten director and production manager... but teacher? He's the guy! His experience in the industry spans several decades and has graduates grossing over US$6billion at the box office, 9 Oscar nominations, 22 Emmy wins, 87 Sundance, Raindance, Cannes, Toronto, blah, blah, blah... you get the picture. His students include Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee, Guy Ritchie, Will Smith, Robert Rodriguez, Queen Latifa, etc, etc. Enuf said.

Day 1 talks about the nuts and bolts about film marketing (directing, filming, post-production in under $US200k for a 90-min feature film) and day two, a screen writing sesison and the marketing aspect of the movie business. Notice the the words in bold. I previously would have used the terms "filming making" or "movie making".

This 2-day session substitutes a 4-year education in film. In fact, the stuff you pick up here is much more valuable! So am I going to shoot a S$250k 90min feature film soon? Dov discourages shorts films so we all know what the next obstacle is...

No piece of cake

I tested out the cake idea today. Bought empty boxes, eggs, food dyes, two Betty Crocker mixes and some fondant. I had issues with the fondant which I found out after tasting that it's actually quite close to marzipan! I don't think many will appreciate the taste of marzipan.

The initial idea was to mix the pure white fondant with the red and blank colourings, but it wasn't that simple. Even flattening out the fondant was difficult as it would stick to the table top! I didn't even get to the point of cutting the coloured fondants into the shape of the company logo.

Well, back to the drawing board... :O)

1st Birthday Bash

Imaginative celebrates 1 year this month! I've been wondering what should I give my clients and those who have supported the business?? Before you go "What about an iPod?" or Why not a brand new car?", consider the fact that I'm on my own and it's only been a year... I've not crossed that break-even point yet. So if you know a good prayer, or someone looking for good creative work done, I'm sure you know who you gonna call... besides the Ghostbusters.

Here are a list of items I have thought about (from a month back):

1) Bake each one a cake or make chocolates. It gives that personal touch and that one year old feel. (How many CEOs actually make their own cakes for their clients???)

2) A cube note pad with a pencil that's shaped like a candle that goes thru' the middle of the whole thing. (Where am I going to find that pencil again?)

3) The traditional "Thank you for supporting me"card... but "pop-up" one... that one has a lot of possibilities.

4) Or do a simple Halloween tie-in... Give treats in a pumpkin!

5) A small Rubik's cube or puzzle keychain, all "messed up" with the tagline "Imaginative - Find the creative solution".

Well, comment away and if it's your idea that I pick, you'll get one too!

The Year of St Paul

Yesterday I concluded my 3 month study on St Paul. 12 weeks only allowed a glance at two of his letters: one to the Galatians and the other to the Romans. Fr Ambrose Vaz, clearly a theologian in this field, and in his usual manner popped the class with a 30 multiple choice question type quiz. Not bad for a test with lotsa tricky questions!

I began an in-depth bible study early this year with a Quick Journey through the Bible to prepare myself to lecture to teens in next year's Youth Formation Programme. It's been an incredible adventure so far unravelling and diving deeper into scripture and reading it in context! So enriching and affirming every single word!

Well, like archeology, there's a lot more digging to share with the world! Next up: Gospel of Mark and Acts. Anyone got any references?

Economic Crisis in Japan

I know it's not good to laugh at people, but this was extremely too corny to NOT send. Being the Ja-Gong (Maize in 'Malay') I am, to all suffering from this economic setback, here's putting a smile on your faces...

Following the problems in the sub-prime lending market in
America and the run on Northern Rock in the UK, uncertainty
has now hit Japan.

In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone
belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches.

Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale
and will likely go for a song while today shares in Kamikaze Bank
were suspended after they nose-dived.

While Samurai Bank are soldiering on following sharp cutbacks,
Ninja Bank are reported to have taken a hit, but they remain
in the black.

Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and
analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank
where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.

- Author unknown.

100,000 toothpicks

CLICK ME!

Absolutely fun!! OK, better start collecting those empty soda cans...

Making the most out of it...

Last Saturday, I assisted the level 6's in their Day of Recollection. It was a day programme held at St Patrick's School right after their Primary School Leaving Exams (PSLE) and the whole idea was to get them aware of the four year confirmation programme that starts next year for them... and hopefully commit to it.

It was really neat to see these pre-teens in their regular clothes in a school canteen during the breakfast and lunch breaks. Reminds me of a typican American public junior high school.


Since parents were also invited for the programme, I used the opportunity to screen MOST. I had just ordered it from the US, and this is my first time screening it for religious education. (I'm sure there will be many more.) It a simple short film that drives home hard the very important message of connecting back with God. This is always a good time in sessions like these to remind us of where we are in life. Do check out the trailer on the link above. More of the Day's proramme in the Scoop Shop.

I have been inspired to do short films like this and will be enrolling in a Dov Simens' 2-Day Film School on the weekend of the 25 & 26th of Oct.

Let's Dance!

A friend posted this on her site and it was too irresistible NOT to blog about it. Everyone probably associates this with Celtic Irish folk music, but it was a remake of an 1848 song "Simple Gifts". Called "Lord of the Dance" this piece was adapted by Sydney Carter in 1963.

This song changed the way I see the word DANCE! Especially in the line "I dance on a Friday when the sky turned black." It goes to show the spirit of what one is doing is far more important than what others perceive of it. Cos' others may not know what the intentions are and only the person doing it knows why!

I kept singing this song yesterday when no one was around and wished I had two others to accompany me! Makes you wanna be Irish! :O) Let's dance beautifully this one journey in life for our Choreographer and the audience around us!

The Story of Religious Education

The topic was the Church Today, and I decided to share with a class of nine year olds a little bit from The Story of Stuff which I had posted awhile back.  I hesitated a little as there were some pretty big words used in the video like "Planned Obsolescence" and "Perceived Obsolescence". Words even I don't know.  But what was really neat was that they got the message!  A couple of questions from them, especially from the ones who get bored easily, cleared doubts.  

It got me thinking what engages the young ones?  And it got me thinking about the manuals we use to teach from... are they truly effective?  For one, the manuals we have here for religious education are from the US.  It's really good stuff, but culturally, what might attract the children there may not captivate the kids here.  Yes, it's been the back of my mind for a long time.  But writing out a whole syllabus requires a lot! Right now, we just trust that God's guiding us to sow the right seeds and that He'll take care of the blossoming in Hs time!

If you missed the last post (on a previous blog) on this and are interested in The Story of Stuff which gives a bird's eye view on our consumption in the environment, click here http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html.

Big little spark!

It's been difficult waking up in the mornings especially on Mondays for Mass. Last night before I slept, I asked our dear blessed Mother to nudge me when it's time. Even though I slept past 1am (I think?), my eyes opened at precisely 5:30am, 15 mins before the time I was suppose to wake up. And just when I thought of switching off the snooze mode, the morning birdie calls to keep me awake! :O) Only when I stepped out of the house, did it stop it stop singing its song!!

When Mass began, Fr Pat and Fr Chris were joined by a very elderly Fr Brian, a Friar. And when Fr Pat introduced him, I was like... WOW! A visiting Friar priest from the Capuchin order who bares so close a resemblance to St Pio. Two of my friends are in Italy this period in time and I think they're on a pilgrimage to view the body of St Pio that is exposed for public veneration in San Giovanni Rotondo. Yes, on the one hand, how I wished I was there too, but on the other, God manifested Himself to me through all the small little things I had experienced in what might have been in the span of half hour this morning... which is all I need for the day! What a way to begin the day... Thank you for this day!

FOR KIDS (from 5 to 50)

Hi!

Oct 1 is Hari Raya Puasa. It is literally the "Celebration Day of Fasting" for Muslims afetr a month of fatsing. In some countries, it is also a day to recognise and understand kids and "of activity promoting the welfare of the world's children" (UN General Assembly). So to all the little ones... and some older ones... Happy Children's Day!

Here's a little activity to engage your little one in creativity!

Let's Torque F1

The past weekend got pretty exciting around the Marina Bay area here in Singapore. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) held its first NIGHT street race and it's the 15th out of 18 in this year's Formula One World Championship Race Calendar. This much I know about cars and racing. Seriously. But I thought that since S$90 million was pumped into this (just think of the infrastructure for the extra flood lights all around), I figured I might as well go see if I can get any form of inspiration.

My first thoughts: It was really loud!!! And nothing beats being there! It got my adrenaline pumping and my creative mind wondering... If only I could get into the track with my cameras to film! I could make a Pod-racing or a Speeder bike short. This also reminded me of a project I had worked on before re-creating a NASCAR environment for an exhibition. I might just decide to post that up in the Workshop for a review.

I think I was more thrilled at the fact that my seat cost only S$5.50, had a great view and was in the comforts of air-conditioning. What more could I ask for the amount I paid? :O) So here's a short edited clip of what I took up on the 2nd floor of the Kopi Tiam at Raffles City. Cheers! (Did I mention that my parents got 50% off the menu too?)

3... 2... 1... launch!!

As I was rummaging through remnants of what was left after that episode when my external Maxtor hard disk crashed, I found this image taken about four years back when I was Málaga, Southern Spain. I was on my way to the Alhambra Palace when the tour guide pointed out the breath-taking sunrise at the Costa del Sol.

Scenes like these only remind me of how great the Creator is and drives me to want to do more! To me, nothing beats this. Instant and free inspiration! We all know how sometimes life gets a little monotonous and what we do becomes a chore. But that's not what this is all about because there is already so much of it in the media.

So begins this blog as I document the little and big sparks of my life...