Warning: This post contains strong instances of hyperbole, and shouldn’t be read by the weak, the infirm, or anyone without the opportunity to immediately buy and watch the film in question.
Storytelling goes back to the very origin of our species, yet never has a story been told so wonderfully or so poignantly as Adam Elliot’s ‘Mary and Max.’
The film is a triumph. The first line has you laughing; the last has you weeping. The fact that it wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar is the reason why you will find me boycotting the awards and throwing eggs at any members of the Academy who happen to cross my path (a surprisingly rare event here in in Harpenden).
Mary is a small lonely child in Australia with an alcoholic Mother, a largely absent Father and a birthmark the colour of poo. She strikes up a friendship with Max, an asbergers sufferer in New York whose main concerns are a failure to understand facial expressions, litter and the recipe for chocolate hot dogs.
I can’t do justice to this film with a summary of the events in it, because it’s so much more than that. It’s a truly beautiful story with characters that you cannot help but love. I’ll give you the link, go any buy it, spread the word.
A true example of the power of animation.
Link:
Best Networking Event = thebestof Luton!
8 Sept 2009
Slurpy has been in full swing within the local networking community lately. Not content with just attending our weekly BNI Chiltern meetings, we have attended BNI Verulam (Hatfield), 4 Networking, and Business 4 Breakfast. But some of the best networking events local to us have been organised by thebestof Luton. Last night we attended a brilliant event - there were delicious nibbles, wine and even a personalised cake for each attendee (thanks to Fantasy Icing!)
We are starting to get our faces recognised within the local networking communities and last night was no different. After chatting with some old and new faces over some food and wine there was a presentation on NLP (Neuro - Linguistic Programming) by Lenka Majstrikova of Ultimate Mind.
We have been memebers of thebestof Luton for a couple of months and have made great use of their blog to list our parachute jump, their up to date listing of carboot sales (we are looking for bargin office equipment at the moment!) and their guide to whats on around Luton. We are currently working on a short web video to promote thebestof's networking events and it will be available online shortly.
We are starting to get our faces recognised within the local networking communities and last night was no different. After chatting with some old and new faces over some food and wine there was a presentation on NLP (Neuro - Linguistic Programming) by Lenka Majstrikova of Ultimate Mind.
We have been memebers of thebestof Luton for a couple of months and have made great use of their blog to list our parachute jump, their up to date listing of carboot sales (we are looking for bargin office equipment at the moment!) and their guide to whats on around Luton. We are currently working on a short web video to promote thebestof's networking events and it will be available online shortly.
Wild Animation
1 Sept 2009
Late July and August saw us begin our animation workshops - Wild Animation - for Wildchild Activities. We take a group of 6-12 year olds and teach them the history and craft of animation in a day of activities, ranging from stop-motion (or claymation as it is also known) to pixilation. Have a look at the movie above to see an example of what the children produced in one day! As well as showing them how easy it is to animate at home with some plasticine and a digital camera, we teach the importance of simple character design, and the children love it when I produce a model of Morph to illustrate one of the simplest, yet effective, charaters ever!
Sky Dive Postponed - Please Give Generously!!
August has been a pretty hectic month, what with holidays, and teaching children and cramming work in. Unfortunately our sky dive for Harpenden Spotlight on Africa has been postponed until 30th September. But it has given us an extra month to raise the money. Our target was an ambitious £2000 and so far we have raised over £1400. We have surpassed our realistic expectations! Here is another publicity image which we will be using in the local papers leading up to the jump, and if you want to donate we would appreciate that VERY much! www.justgiving.com/jump4africa
Jumping Out A Plane...For Africa!
27 Jul 2009
Three blog posts in a little over a week...we are quite proud of ourselves! This time we want to tell you how in one months time we will both be jumping out of a plane 15,000 feet up to raise money for a local charity Harpenden Spotlight On Africa.
The charity aims to link the people of Harpenden with communities in sub-Saharan Africa to support local initiatives to alleviate poverty.
We spend last Sunday morning at Harpenden Farmers Market rattling our tins and raising as much awareness as possible on the HSOA stall - see the photo above!
The charity aims to link the people of Harpenden with communities in sub-Saharan Africa to support local initiatives to alleviate poverty.
We spend last Sunday morning at Harpenden Farmers Market rattling our tins and raising as much awareness as possible on the HSOA stall - see the photo above!
You can read our story at the St Alban's Review's website "Harpenden Couple Take To The Skies For African Charity"!
If you would like to sponsor us (please do!) at our Just Giving page: Jump4Africa
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