Pigeon: Impossible

I, like most people who find themselves to be participating members of digital society,  do a little spring cleaning in my email inbox every once in a while. Today I was doing just this and came across a message from November that linked to an unbelievable animated short film aptly titled Pigeon: Impossible. This said, the video might be old news to you guys, but it’s so perfect that I had to share again:

Here’s a little background- Pigeon: Impossible represents writer/director/producer/animator Lucas Martell’s first attempt at 3D animation. And there’s no typo there, I did say his first attempt. Even more impressive is that Martell is not actually trained as a film maker– he graduated with a degree in commercial music.

According to Martell, the project began as an excuse to learn 3D animation, however, five years and $10k later, the final cut of Pigeon: Impossible is clearly more than the aimless experimentations of some 28 year old computer geek. Somewhere along the line, focus shifted from the technicalities of 3D animation to using those techniques as a means to tell a great story. Correct me if I’m wrong but  to me, the result is an independent short film technically and narratively equal to anything coming from a studio. The kicker? Not only was it accomplished for under 10,000 bucks, Pigeon: Impossible was made exclusively during Mr. Martell and his few volunteers’ free time.

Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but like I said, it’s unreal. The animation is flawlessly rendered, the soundtrack is awesome, and most importantly, the story line is engaging, hilarious, and charming enough to warm even the coldest of hearts.

If want to learn more about the film, check out the website here.

I’m on a Bus

If this…is coming…through…choppily…it’s because…this internet…is…very…very…slow. Okay just kidding. But really, it is. That being said, I’m taking a bus from DC to New York City and it has internet. The connection is as slow and painful as a snail trying to moonwalk across a frozen French lake, but it’s internet nonetheless. I’ve been looking out the window, seeing if any auto-parasites have caught on, hovering in the lanes next to us and leaching our internet, but I think both the bus and the internet are moving too slowly to make it worth the effort.

Anywho, I strongly recommend the Bolt Bus as a means of travel. The seats are comfortable — if bus seating can be comfortable — it’s not too crowded, and it seems like the riders have a general concept of social decency, unlike on Amtrak, where it seems like passengers wait to get on the train to have tormentingly awkward phone conversations for everyone else to suffer through. Best of all, it’s $39 round-trip and drops you off right at Penn Station. The driver also informed us that they’re now doing trips to Philadelphia, Richmond, Raleigh, and some other cities around the Mid-Atlantic coast. Anyways, it’s about to be big boy in the big city, so hopefully I’ll hit you with something more exciting next time.