Dow & I had another oZone meeting yesterday. All in all, probably about 5 hours before going out to Bic Camera to check out some digital cameras than a bunch of beer and sausages at a local German pub (!) in Ginza. Damn, I'm addicted to dark beer. Anyways, I think we're locking down the look of oZone and most of the story. Shooting in Japan's going to be a challenge--not just getting equipment together and maybe even a small crew, but tonight I hung out with a friend of mine--Kaz--who's been in production for awhile. He told me about the possibilities of getting stopped by the yakuza or cops, etc. We have to shoot guerilla. I think I'll see if there is a film commission we can talk to but without a major budget and time, it's probably not doable. So we've got to just go guerilla shoot. Sakura season is coming up in a week or two and we want to get some footage. Can we pull it off on time...?

Good meeting today with a new collaborator--artist and creator Mike Lindow aka Manike (who I call Dow). we're working on a new project temporarily entitled "oZone." this is going to be something truly unique. we're going to use art, photography, digital video, animation and create a true mixed-media project. Dow's been playing around with some looks that feel natural and right for the project--I think we can really pull off something that people take notice of worldwide. cross your fingers for us! oZone is a play off of Wizard of Oz--and our story is about a modern-day "Dorothy" who ends up in Tokyo, but realizes her family, who she left in the States, is special to her. There are similar themes with Princess Ai, but oZone brings in the fun characters of Wizard of Oz and turns them upside-down. After we get going on this some more, perhaps we'll post some early looks. Please e-mail me or post a comment to LMK if anyone wants to see the early stuff.

BTW I noticed no one is commenting on my "blob." Are you guys reading anymore, or did you give up on me when I wasn't updating it? I'm updating it now so plz come back and give me a chance!! Or do I really need to move all this over to My Space...? I'm so torn...

But thx for all the e-mails I'm still getting!

stay tuned for the new project: oZone

today was a very emotional day. i was lucky enough to meet a wonderful, sweet girl named Alex. Alex and her family came to Japan two days ago for the very first time. Alex has two brothers (one is 2) and a sister, along with her parents. She knows quite a lot about various aspects of manga culture--anime, RPG Maker, the Web, various stuff. Yesterday was her birthday--she became 18. But what made today such an emotional day is that yesterday was her last birthday. Alex has cancer and the doctors say she won't make it to her next birthday. It's not fair. Life's not fair. How can bad people survive and thrive, while people like Alex have to face this kind of fate?

Thanks to Make-a-Wish for bringing her and her family to Japan. Thanks to Satelight for joining me today. And Kawamori-san. We were all very moved, touched and learned so much from her. About how to enjoy life and have a positive, optimistic perspective.

Thank you Alex. You made me very happy that I am in the creative field and can reach out to people like you and have you influence and change my life.

green? ?asphalt
asphalt? green

texture? ?ribbon
ribbon? ?texture

cloudy? ?hairspray
hairspray? ?cloudy


-->? ok i have no idea what those mean but i just felt like writing them...

watching Symphathy for Lady Vengeance.? damn that's intense.? any of u seen or heard of it?? it's by park chan woo (i think that's his name)--the guy who did Old Boy.? there's like 20 Korean couples teaming up to torture and murder this guy that killed and tortured each of their kids.? really sick stuff.