The perfect way to cut an orange...

Like almost all foods, there is in fact a perfect way to cut an orange. Why is it perfect? Because it allows for the most access to the meaty goodness of the orange (or grapefruit) with the least amount of loss.

Dirty Martin's Place

Today I met my friend and fellow food enthusiast Chelsea out for dinner. We decided to try Dirty Martin's Place on Guadalupe. We chose to eat on the front porch and enjoy what might be one of our last days of mild weather here in ATX. They had fresh squeezed lemonade and limeade! I went for the lemonade not realizing they had both. It was enjoyable non the less.

We started with the fried pickle chips and ranch. I feel like there was more grease than pickle or breading. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, pickle spears are the way to go. Chips just don't have enough of the actual pickle to get that full flavor. I didn't really feel like the batter they used for these was terribly amazing either.

The burger was average, but again incredibly greasy. The fries were meh at best, and I was really glad I'd asked to add cheese to them, because I don't think I'd have eaten them otherwise. I mean, really, cheese makes everything better. Unless it's fake nacho cheese, which was what they offered when I asked for cheese fries. I was really happy my waitress specified so I could opt for shredded cheddar instead. I didn't finish the fries or the burger, they were just too greasy. The prices were reasonable and the burger and sides are ordered as separate items.

For a place with "dirty" in the name and clearly a dive bar, I did appreciate that the bathroom was decently clean. All in all, I don't think I'll be going back. There are just too many places to get a great burger in Austin to ever settle for less.

Nyk's 2014 Demo Reel

This year I finally took the time edit and release my updated demo reel. The last reels I did (3D reel and 2D reel) were for my graduation from Ai Houston in 2010. This demo reel gives a taste of some of the really fantastic jobs I was able to be a part of while working for Powerhouse Animation Studios in Austin, Texas. Below I've included a detailed shot list. Enjoy.

1. Grammaropolis: In this shot I did the animation and lip sync for the blue noun and the orange adjective characters using Adobe Flash. I also did the post production for the entire project using Adobe After Effects. The effects showcased in this clip are fire elements added to the building, smoke, and an 8mm film grain and grunge.

2. Sex Eddie: This piece was a freelance job I did via my own company, Truncheon M Productions for the Center for Sex Education. Dr. Karen Rayne designed Sex Eddie and asked me to polish and digitize him for the center. This birthday cake animation was a present for the center's CEO Bill Taverner. You can see the progress of Sex Eddie in my post here, and another ad I did for the CSE about Bill here. I also created the 2014 CSE conference program. So thanks to Karen Rayne, Bill Taverner and the CSE.

3. Danny Bonaduce: Every animator knows that one of the hardest things to do well is a scrolling background. Especially one done at this perspective. I was given the artwork for this scene and asked to "make it work". I used Adobe Flash to piece together buildings and animate the scrolling background which I then took into Adobe After Effects and added in Danny, his car, the cop car in the background which I added squad car lights to, and lamp posts. I really enjoyed doing the lighting effects on this and the next shot.

4. Danny Bonduce continued: This scene includes some simple head light animation done in AE, blinking porch light, and a nice little animation of the cars stop.

5. Fuck a Therapist: Can we take a moment to just appreciate that stick figures are just fun! Stick figures that curse, act insane, and violent are just a step above in the enjoyment level of an animator. I really enjoyed working on these jobs. In this scene I did the animation, character setup and lip sync.

6. Fuck a Therapist continued: Lasers make things better! In this shot I used Adobe After Effects to animate the heart, laser, fire, and smoke effects. Another animator is responsible for the character animation. If you'd like to see more of my special effects and character animation work on these you can see them on this blog. I also enjoyed doing all of the sound effect work on this particular project.

7. Brain Chase: Here I used Adobe After Effects to create the film grain treatment as well as the Sepia tone. I also play the voice for the character Max in this series. It was a super fun project to be a part of.

8. 21 Years: Richard Linklater: To achieve this popup story book form I used motion scripts and a 3D camera in Adobe After Effects. It really brought to life artwork provided to me by the rest of the team in Kevin Smith's part of this documentary animated by Powerhouse Animation.

9. Grantland: Doing the character animation for this project was fantastic. How could you not enjoy animating Dave Chappel and Prince? In this scene I used Adobe Flash to do the character animation and lip sync for the three characters shown, as well as some of the art work for their character set ups. Specifically arms, hands, mouths, and pancake art.

10. Coca-Cola: My few seconds of fame became real when I was able to do character animation and lip sync for the coca-cola polar bear in this commercial using Adobe After Effects.

11. Grantland: Using Adobe Flash I animated both characters in this scene, did their lip sync, and drew quite a few of their arm, hand, and mouth shapes. Working under Shane Minshew I really learned to embrace the smear technique.

12. Ted Ed: Ted Talks are amazing! Ted Ed is yet another great concept teaching people really awesome things. I was so honored to work on three pieces for Ted Ed while with Powerhouse Animation. This one explained the Higgs Field. In this scene I used Adobe After Effects to create a sparkle effects around the nobel prize, a 3D camera for the motion, and a shine effect to really bring out the prize glow!

13. Ted Ed continued: In this Ted Ed the subject was ice. Here we see an Adobe After Effects scene using a 3D camera a wiggle script and a lot of patience! I really enjoyed the way this scene turned out. It was so much fun working with my team members artwork to create these simple yet exciting effects.

14-15. Ted Ed continued: This piece was about understanding geological time. In this scene I drew the artwork for the earth and animated it (him?) in Adobe Flash, and did the compositing in Adobe After Effects. I also did the swirl transition, lighting effects, and page turn transition in AE.

16. Grantland: Using Adobe After Effects I created the amazing club lighting, 3D camera motion, depth of field, blur, and layering in this shot.

17. Grantland: Here I used AE to make the rocket flare/stream and animate the lift off.

18. Grantland: Character Animation and lip sync using Adobe Flash.

19. Grantland: I used Adobe After Effects for the lighting, camera movement, scene layering, fog effect, and camera flashes. To do the artwork, character set up, and animaton for the crowd I used Adobe Flash. Someone else animated the walleyed guy doing the robot, but how hilarious is that dude?

20. Ted Ed continued: More Ted Ed After Effects. These were just so much fun and so cool looking I couldn't help but include them a few times.

21. Epic Mickey 2: On this video game project I worked on a few scenes as a clean up artist. It was my job to refine the animators work and get it ready for the compositing team. I had the privalege of working on a Mad Doctor scene as well as a few with Mickey, Oswald, and the cows.

22. Grammaropolis: In this shot I did the After Effects sepia to color treatment, the camera motion, and the text animation, as well as the sparkle effect.

23. Grantland: Using Adobe After Effects I did the lighting effects and animation, the smoke effects, and the camera movement for this scene.

24. Fuck a Therapist: In this scene I did the character animation (another great smear) and lip sync on the right half of the screen in Adobe Flash and the compositing for the whole scene in After Effects.

25. Pains of being pure of heart: I used Adobe After Effects and the script editor to create a sound meter effect timed to the volume of this really cool music video.

26. Grammaropolis: This scene was actually the first time I did the same effect as the previous scene for the Grammaropolis project.

27. Joan Mayo: I did the TV static effect for this scene in Adobe After Effects as well as the compositing for the overall project.

28. Ted Ed continued: Here I was responsible for the character animation as well as some character and background artwork. I drew several arms, hands, and finger nails for this shot. I also did the overall compositing, and text animation.

29. Grammaropolis: Those anime eyes - all me baby! Adobe After Effects flare and a little wiggle expression.

30. Grantland: Using Adobe Flash I animated both characters in this scene, did their lip sync, and drew quite a few of their arm, hand, and mouth shapes. I also drew and animated that little tear effect - subtle but humorous.

31. Fuck a Therapist: And we finish off the reel with another clip from FAT. I drew that fedora, and that bitchin' yellow coffee mug (an ode to PHA), aniamated both characters and all of the blood.

So that's it! Hope you enjoyed my work. Thanks to all of the other animators, compositors, background artists, and friends who worked on these projects with me. What I did looked so much cooler as a result of your work.

Lucy's Fried Chicken

Lucy's Fried Chicken

It feels very much like Lucy's Fried Chicken is one of those trendy places that native Austinites love to hate. The impression is that the want to be dive is trying hard to feel like something other than what it is - overpriced and a bit pretentious.

It's funny how even a large menu can sometimes feel limiting. For example, the smallest order of fried chicken was a four piece basket for $9.50. This seemed a bit odd to me. What if I only want one or two pieces and a side? Since I was there with a small group, we each ordered something different and shared.

There are four things I must order if they are available. These are in order of importance; fresh squeezed limeade or lemonade, fried okra, queso flameado, and macaroni and cheese. Much to my delectation, Lucy's had three of these things! 

The "fresh" squeezed lemonade was only a step above straight from the box minute maid. I'm assuming that it was not from a soda fountain only because I was told as much and want to give them the benefit of the doubt.

The fried chicken was mostly dark meat and incredibly greasy. Now granted, fried chicken should be greasy, otherwise it's just baked chicken and that's a whole other beast (well, same beast, different dish). This, however, made church's chicken look healthy. The pieces were small and didn't have much meat. I will say this though, the breading was pretty fantastic! I enjoyed the skin more than the actual meat, the very opposite of my usual take on this dish.

The mac n cheese was what made the meal. It was a good size portion of rich cheese and noodles topped with breadcrumbs. It easily made my top ten list for good macaroni, which it well should for $8.50.

We also shared an order of the corn bread muffins for $4.95. Call me crazy, but I like a traditional corn bread. It makes me happy. The inclusion of jalepanoes wouldn't have bothered me if it had been listed on the menu. I would also have enjoyed trying the tequila butter (just for kicks) but they forgot to bring it out with the basket, so we didn't bother to ask for it.

All in all Lucy's fried chicken felt over priced and underwhelming. Our server didn't have much of a sense of humor (something of a must to survive waiting tables) and the food wasn't exciting enough for the cost. I might be willing to give it another chance, if someone else is willing to paying.

Hillside Farmacy

http://hillsidefarmacy.com

Finding new restaurants can be such an enjoyable thing. Good company and conversation, excellent food never before tried, and a change in scenery.

This week I had the pleasure of trying Hillside Farmacy with a dear friend. The restaurant was charming inside - I have a thing for pretty bottles. We chose to appreciate the fresh air on their herb lined patio.

The drinks were creative and delicious. I had the hibiscus lemonade, and my friend had the rosewood hand crafted soda. I'm planning on trying the pickpocket next visit.

After some time with the menu we settled on splitting the "thank you" sandwich and the mac & cheese with a broccoli addition. Both proved to be excellent choices. The mac & cheese was creamy with large broccoli florets. The sandwich was a fantastic combination of rosted chicken, mozzarella, sprouts, and strawberry jam. Each bite was better than the last. 

All in all in looking to returning to test out more of their menu soon.

Pizza Master

As of late, I've become quite the pizza maker. Below is the recipe I've acquired from a good friend. Enjoy!

Step 1: Mix the following ingredients into a bowl, dry goods first.

1.5 cups of all purpose flour

2 tsp quick rising yeast

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup very warm water

1 Tbsp olive oil

Step 2: mix for 5 or so minutes until your ingredients form a dough ball. 

Step 3: Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of cornmeal onto  a pizza stone.

Step 4: Preheat your oven to 400°

Step 5: Place your dough ball in the center of the stone and roll your dough out into a circle (or desired shape) using a rolling pin.

Step 6: Add tomato sauce, minced garlic, cheese, and any additional toppings desired.

Step 7: bake for 15-18 minutes. Done!

Have you seen S.E.X.?

This weekend I had the pleasure of shooting a few pictures of this amazing SEX sign for the lovely and talented Dr. Karen Rayne. Together she and Sam Killermann are doing a live sex show (but not that kind of sex show) called Have you seen sex? It's slated to be a classy night of debauchery and sexual education like none other.  Check out their website for information on dates, tickets, and venue location. What could be better then all this fun? Getting your picture taken with this sign!

Nyk's Award Winning Chocolate Cake

Step 1:

preheat the oven to 350*

Step 2:

1 cup water

1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa

2 sticks of real salted butter

Put in a pot on low/medium heat, and leave it there as you are doing the next steps. Check on it every few minutes, so that just as the butter melts you can move it to a place where it can cool, and stir it a few times to blend it all really well.

Step 3:

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon Baking Soda (orange box)

1 teaspoon salt

Put in one of those plastic bags from the produce section and shake well. It kind of sifts the flour.

Step 4:

2 eggs 

1 teaspoon Extract PURE vanilla (don't get the cheap stuff)

Put the eggs in a bowl; add the vanilla and beat well. 

Step 5:

1/2 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vinegar or, even BETTER juice of half a lemon

Put the milk in the measuring cup and add the lemon juice then stir just once. Leave it aside.

Step 6:

In a giant bowl put the flour mix in...then slowly stir in the cooled cocoa/water/butter...then stir in the milk/lemon juice. Stir all of this very well. Then you have to quickly stir in the egg mixture. You have to do it fast so that the heat from the cocoa water doesn't cook the eggs. Set the bowl aside.

Step 7:

Grease 2  9" cake pans or whatever you are going to use. You have to make sure the shortening covers the pan really well...especially in the corners and grooves. Then dust the pans liberally with cocoa powder. You can use flour, but it leaves white powder on the cake and it doesn't look good.

Step 8:

Bake for 30 minutes on 350*. Put the pans in the center rack evenly spaced in the oven. When pans are too close the cakes come out lopsided. Pat the center of the cake to make sure it springs back up. if it doesn't put it back in for 5 more minutes.

Frosting. 

1/2 cup cocoa

4 cups powdered sugar

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup milk

dash salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt the butter in a large pot over low heat. Add the cocoa, milk and vanilla. Stir well. Add the salt and stir well, then...slowly add one cup of powdered sugar at a time and stir in completely. Then turn the heat off and taste it. Adjust to your liking. Then let it cool as the cakes come out of the oven. DO NOT cool the cakes completely before you frost them or they will tear apart (I learned this the hard way!). Let the cakes cool about 10 minutes, then take the cake pans and smack 'em on the counter a few times on the bottom and the sides, to make sure the cake comes completely loose from the pan. Put strips of paper, or foil on the bottom of the plate you are going to use to serve the cake, in the shape if a triangle. Put the cake over the paper triangle then frost the top of it in a really really thick layer (the cake will absorb most of it - that's why it has to be thick). Then put the next cake on top of the first one and frost the top of it. If the frosting is warm enough it will run down the sides, and you want that. Just use a butter knife to spread it around the sides evenly. Pour more frosting on the top and keep spreading it out and on the sides. It takes a while to frost a cake well so go slow and be patient. The warmth of the frosting makes it seal the moisture in the cake once it cools, so the cake stays delicious for days when others get dry overnight. After it's frosted very gently pull the pieces of paper away from under the cake. This leaves a perfectly clean surface.

Polish Pass for a Client's Logo

Since 2013 I've been doing some work off and on for the CFLE's National Sex Ed Conference. Below is a polish pass done on a Logo they created for their new mascot Sex Eddie, a cut gender neutral owl.

Kickstarter Video phase 1

 The first phase of creating the video for The Adventures of Dr. Blah-kman & Mr. Meow kickstarter campaign is complete! Green screen footage is in the can and soon to be edited. Thanks to Chris Vondergruen and Bryan Lee for their help and skills. I couldn't have done it without their talent and equipment.

Book Ad for the CFLE

Planned Parenthood and the Center for Family Life Education just released a new manual, and with every new product, there comes a new print ad. Voila, let there be text about a new text!

Grandma's Rum Cake

RUM CAKE
1 cup butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups sifted cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
5 eggs
1 tsp each vanilla, rum, and butter flavorings

Cake:
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy(as whipped cream).
Add flavorings.
Sift flour and salt.
Add half to butter mixture. Beat until creamy.
Add eggs; one at a time beating well after each.
Add flour and beat until velvety smooth.
Pour into well greased bundt pan.
Bake in 325 oven one hour or longer
Cool slightly and then glaze

Glaze:
In small saucepan put 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup rum.
Bring to boil.
Remove from heat and add the tsp. of rum flavoring.
Cool cake slightly and then brush glaze over warm cake.

Enjoy!