Monday, December 7, 2015

Post CTN 2015 and Does Anyone Remember...?


Well, CTN 2015 is over. It was a bit of a whirlwind this year...which is probably telling in that I am just now realizing it's over and writing this blog post about it.

Day One - Thursday
Our plane down to Burbank left very early on Thursday morning. Raul and I were able to check into our hotel room shortly after arrival which was nice. Then instead of the normal OA Day festivities, we opted to check out the La Brea Tar Pits. What can I say? I promised the man prehistoric dead things. Veronica and Desiree (Lovely ladies I work with) came with us and introduced us to Korean BBQ. When back at the Marriott we went over to the Main Hall, got our badges and started setting up. We sat between Meg Park and Brynn Metheney at T123 - and they were great neighbors. :)

Day Two - Friday
We finished setting up and the Hall opened at 12.30. Traffic was noticeably higher than it was the year prior and the air conditioning was a blessing. I talked to many amazing people - I think I might have been the only Stop Motion person with a table. I wasn't selling anything again, but I hope I can in 2016. Raul sold out of sketchbooks. He sold prints and a few sculptures too. We both collected emails for our newsletters - to keep everyone updated of progress and when new things became available. I didn't buy as much this year. I think this may be due to the fact that many people I regularly bought from decided to go to Designer Con this year - unfortunately the same weekend.



Day Three - Saturday
I got out and attended a panel that fellow Laikan Toby Froud gave on bringing puppets to life. He had puppets from his short Lessons Learned with him and they were absolutely gorgeous. It was a fantastic talk and I got the chance to chat more with him later that day when he was walking around the hall and passed my table. I was unfortunately not able to attend the Laika panel that Brian, Steve and Georgina gave. I spent time at the fire pits that evening to catch up with OA friends.

Day Four - Sunday
This day was calmer in comparison to the last two, which was nice because we almost lost our voices. The hall closed a bit earlier and while we were packing up they had champagne (which neither Raul or I drank) and cake (which both Raul and I ate). The disappointment of this day was that we could not immediately renew our table for next year. I like having things in place as soon as I can so that was a bit irritating. We had dinner with our friends Katherine and Owen which was great since we hadn't seen much of them since moving away.

Day Five - Monday
We flew back early that morning and picked up Tito from the vet/boarding. He seemed happy to see us in the waiting room. But as soon as we got him in the car he started in on us - barking incessantly until we all went to sleep that night. He even refused french fries! Unfortunately since then he's been sick. I don't think we'll board him again. Raul and I followed up with as many people as we could that day and napped intermittently.

It's such a rush - we're already stoked for this next year!! :D



So...straight up, does anyone remember fondly those holiday specials that come on year after year?
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town?
The Year Without a Santa Claus?
Jack Frost?


They were my favorite. I didn't even know it was Christmas most of the time until I saw those. (They seem to show them earlier and earlier each year) Until I was running around singing at the top of my lungs about how people called me Heat Miser. I was too much. Those were the days.

Rankin and Bass made many movies (Not all in stop motion - fans of The Last Unicorn or the animated Hobbit?) and shows (ThunderCats GO!) but the most influential to me where those stop motion features. I was always in awe of the magic in them.

So now that the holidays are in full swing, I'll be relaxing with my buddy Nostalgia as I watch those specials again - trying to say Burgermeister Meisterburger as fast as I can. 

Happy Holidays everyone!!