April Hiking Report

April was a good month for hiking for me. The weather was generally friendlier and the days got much longer. I can now hike after work, which is always an option, but I prefer to hike during the day. I knocked down 72 miles last month, bringing my YTD total to 211, 35% of my goal. I was 11 miles off my average going into the month and I came out the other side with 11 miles in the bank. I believe that trend will continue through May. How many miles have you hiked lately?

OK HW

Zank Hits the Big Screen

My film "Zank" has been accepted to be shown at The Little Theater's Emerging Filmmakers Series. Here are the details:

The Weaverwerx produced short animated film, "Zank" will be shown May 22, 2006 at 9:15 PM as part of The Little Theater's ongoing Emerging Filmmakers Series.

"Zank" is a 3 minute, stop motion animation Dadaist journey featuring everything from a screaming nun to tiki mugs and a special appearance by the Buddha. It is the tale of one small beings journey to find peace and acceptance in a world filled with false gods and worldly temptations.

Originally created for Richmond, Va Flicker'’s "Attack of the 50ft Reels"”, "Zank" was transferred to video and polished up with new titles and a little editing. Featuring an original music score by Neil Spencer Bruce, the new version of "Zank" was completed June 2005.

"Zank" being accepted to this series is a solid boost to my morale. And to think that I nearly didn't submit my stuff. Yeah, it's true, I almost let that little old fear of rejection demon talk me into leaving that tape on the shelf. So if you are out there and you are doubting whether to throw your hat, poem, film, painting, whatever into the crazy arena of life, I say go for it. It's not enough to make stuff, you got to share it with your fellow humans, it is part of the dance.

I hope to see you on the 22nd. If not, you can watch "Zank" on the really tiny screen by clicking on the link to the right (maybe down the page a little, yeah, there it is).

OK HW

Links like this...

I find the best web sites more often through links and not search engines, particularly when it comes to personal, artistic sites. Links create that friend-of-a-friend atmosphere, so if you like one persons blog, their links will lead to even more good reading. With all that in mind, here's some places to explore:

First up is my pal Sam Hundley. Sam is an artist and an illustrator and around Halloween every year, becomes a madman.

Another fine artist and long time friend, Foust creates wonderful linoleum block prints that are self-contained little tales.

The Wishjar Journal is a great blog written by Keri Smith. I've never met Ms. Smith, but find her musings on art, creativity and inspiration to be motivating.

Under "Film Stuff", I've added the always informative Mondo Schlocko run by Tim Shrum. One of my favorite features on this blog is the podcast, which is always a good mix of great indie music and horror movie talk.

Finally, under "Humor, Research, Whatever", I added Boing Boing, Digg, and Screenhead. Three web sites designed to suck your time and life away, but in a very entertaining and frequently informative manner.

Enjoy.

OK HW

March hiking report

In between rubbing elbows with the Celebes and working the job, I did manage to squeak out a few miles, 45 to be exact. Just shy of the average 50 I need to keep on top of it. The ytd (year to date) total is 139; 11 miles under where I should be right now, so time to get hoofing. Picked up 10 miles over the weekend and now that daylight savings in effect, I'll be able to get hikes in after work.

In other hiking related news, I uploaded photos from a hiking adventure from January 2003 when I hiked the West Highland Way in sunny Scotland. You can check them out by following the Flickr link on the lower right side of this page. Enjoy.

And where have you hiked lately?

OK HW