Animating across the globe
Jet lag is a crazy thing. Just when you think you got it licked, it bites you back. I didn't believe everyone when they said it takes about a week to get used to the normal time. I thought, heck, I'll sleep a ton of hours and force myself to stay awake...yeah right...didn't happen.
Why the lag you say? Well, I say, I went to Bangalore, India for another trip with my old friend/co-worker Tom Grevera (or as my girls call him - Mr. Tom) to check out our overseas animation partner - Paprikas.
To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to the trip - about 20 hours with a stop in Germany, a week away from the girls and most importantly, no pizza for 7 days!!!
BUT to my joyous surprise, the trip was actually very cool. The artists and production peeps at the studio were fantastic. They are a talented bunch out there, hungry to learn more. Tom and I were to go out there to help them take "Back at the Barnyard" to the next level. I was also out there to help approve shots for my hour special - Cowman: The Uddered Avenger! (Part 2 of the Cowman Series).
It was fun hanging out with our new friends, talking animation and eating a TON of food. Man, it was some delicious stuff. The surprise was some meal with these little ears of corn. I thought I was a giant when I picked them up but soon felt like Tom Hanks in Big when I ate them. Remember the scene when he's at the party and he eats something hot? Holy K-RAP were these things hot. Hoochie momma they burnt my tongue for days. The only thing that ailed my pain was the local beer - Kingfisher - and lots of it. Can't beat it for like $3 per. Tom and I had a few...
We had a good time on the weekend too - heading downtown to do some bartering. Now, just a few days before, there had been a few bombs that went off near a shopping mall in Bangalore. Heather wasn't too keen on me heading out but I was assured that things were fine. And they were! The weird thing is that Tom and I went to a mall and thought nothing of it - except being the only white dudes for miles...BUT I soon learned that the mall we were at was the SAME MALL the bombs went off. EEEEEP.
Still, no problems a few Kingfishers couldn't solve.
It was odd though that we found probably one of the only places in Bangalore that served Belgian Beers!!! I couldn't believe it...leave it up to me to find them. Needless to say, the ride home was more tolerable than normal. Man, the driving there is INSANE!!! I couldn't do it. Imagine a 2 lane highway filled with 5 lanes of traffic. Oh, not your ordinary calm parking lot LA traffic, either. 5 lanes of cars, scooters, motorcycles, cabs, tricycles, green machines...you name it - all HONKING! It's crazy. Everyone honks - all the time. I would think that with so much honking, everyone would be immune to it...my hotel room was facing the road...I can still hear the honking in my head when I close my eyes....
It was all good though. I think we made some good friends over there and learned a little more about a different culture. I learned also how much I love my sportscenter though - being that I didn't have it for a week. The bollywood movies are interesting and I learned that they really make the movies for the songs, not so much the story. If they can sell a song for the movie, it's considered a success. The crazy thing about this fact is that they have a TON of TV channels that show the songs. I mean A TON! I thought there were a million Indian MTVs or something. I soon learned that it was just the songs from the movies. WOW!!!
But now we're back and the lag of jets is gone. I'm finally back to sleeping my whopping 6 hours a night. Thank goodness the Olympics were on or I would probably be knee deep into Designing Women repeats. Delta Burke was hot at one point, right???
Well she was...maybe after a couple of Kingfisher Beers....
Why the lag you say? Well, I say, I went to Bangalore, India for another trip with my old friend/co-worker Tom Grevera (or as my girls call him - Mr. Tom) to check out our overseas animation partner - Paprikas.
To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to the trip - about 20 hours with a stop in Germany, a week away from the girls and most importantly, no pizza for 7 days!!!
BUT to my joyous surprise, the trip was actually very cool. The artists and production peeps at the studio were fantastic. They are a talented bunch out there, hungry to learn more. Tom and I were to go out there to help them take "Back at the Barnyard" to the next level. I was also out there to help approve shots for my hour special - Cowman: The Uddered Avenger! (Part 2 of the Cowman Series).
It was fun hanging out with our new friends, talking animation and eating a TON of food. Man, it was some delicious stuff. The surprise was some meal with these little ears of corn. I thought I was a giant when I picked them up but soon felt like Tom Hanks in Big when I ate them. Remember the scene when he's at the party and he eats something hot? Holy K-RAP were these things hot. Hoochie momma they burnt my tongue for days. The only thing that ailed my pain was the local beer - Kingfisher - and lots of it. Can't beat it for like $3 per. Tom and I had a few...
We had a good time on the weekend too - heading downtown to do some bartering. Now, just a few days before, there had been a few bombs that went off near a shopping mall in Bangalore. Heather wasn't too keen on me heading out but I was assured that things were fine. And they were! The weird thing is that Tom and I went to a mall and thought nothing of it - except being the only white dudes for miles...BUT I soon learned that the mall we were at was the SAME MALL the bombs went off. EEEEEP.
Still, no problems a few Kingfishers couldn't solve.
It was odd though that we found probably one of the only places in Bangalore that served Belgian Beers!!! I couldn't believe it...leave it up to me to find them. Needless to say, the ride home was more tolerable than normal. Man, the driving there is INSANE!!! I couldn't do it. Imagine a 2 lane highway filled with 5 lanes of traffic. Oh, not your ordinary calm parking lot LA traffic, either. 5 lanes of cars, scooters, motorcycles, cabs, tricycles, green machines...you name it - all HONKING! It's crazy. Everyone honks - all the time. I would think that with so much honking, everyone would be immune to it...my hotel room was facing the road...I can still hear the honking in my head when I close my eyes....
It was all good though. I think we made some good friends over there and learned a little more about a different culture. I learned also how much I love my sportscenter though - being that I didn't have it for a week. The bollywood movies are interesting and I learned that they really make the movies for the songs, not so much the story. If they can sell a song for the movie, it's considered a success. The crazy thing about this fact is that they have a TON of TV channels that show the songs. I mean A TON! I thought there were a million Indian MTVs or something. I soon learned that it was just the songs from the movies. WOW!!!
But now we're back and the lag of jets is gone. I'm finally back to sleeping my whopping 6 hours a night. Thank goodness the Olympics were on or I would probably be knee deep into Designing Women repeats. Delta Burke was hot at one point, right???
Well she was...maybe after a couple of Kingfisher Beers....
posted by gasman at 10:23 PM
1 comments
