Percy and Thornton

So, I've really taken to making buddies. Haven't had much time in the past few weeks, but now that I'm staring unemployment in its bloodshot and crusty eye, I will have more time to play God of Soft Creatures.

Percy is a penguin who kind of wants to be an owl. He loves having stories read to him, but is equally happy to watch cooking shows on TV. Be warned, if he's hungry, he may forget himself and try to peck the TV to get the treats inside.

I gave this guy, Thornton, to Leigh for her birthday. They get on really well, apparently, they hold hands when Leigh's falling asleep, and sometimes she brings him into work with her.

Love and Economics

I am REALLY looking forward to seeing the video! I've seen some stills, and it looks quite cheesy, in a golden-good kind of way. Yuss. I really like Tono and the Finance Company (check out tono's blog here), they have such clever and catchy songs! I'd been crapping my pants a little about doing the poster for this, my mind was drawing blanks instead of pictures. After torturing myself for being terrible for a good few weeks, I had myself a session and sat down and did this in an hour. More of less. Pretty happy with how it turned out too.

If you're not in Dunedin, they're playing a show in Wellington on December 3 with Matt Langley at Happy, then playing at Whammy Bar in Auckland on December 6, with Bearcat and the Wicks. There'll also be shows in Port Chalmers and Christchurch but I ain't got the deets for them yet.

New Hayao Miyazaki

Gake no Ue no Ponyo
Uploaded by yom_

So this is apparently called "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" and looks adorably cute - as you'd expect with a Miyazaki film.
Wikipedia informs me that:

The story revolves around a five-year old boy, Sosuke, and the Princess goldfish, Ponyo, who wants to become human. Studio Ghibli President Toshio Suzuki noted that "70 to 80% of the film takes place at sea. It will be a director’s challenge on how they will express the sea and its waves with freehand drawing." The film does not contain any computer generated imagery, or CGI, in contrast to Miyazaki's other recent work.

Apparently it did really well in Japan when it was released earlier this year - I don't know if it'll be in New Zealand cinemas... Spirited Away did super well, so it wouldn't surprise me if it did find its way onto our silver screens, even if that happens through film festivals instead of mainstream cinema releases.

To find out more about Hayao Miyazaki (if you're unfamiliar with his work and want to know more), check out, wikipedia, or here.

Happy Birthday Leigh!

And thanks for the best party EVER! Smashing that piñata was the only way I made it through the election coverage. x