Paul Newman passes

One of the most dynamic actors of our time, Paul Newman has passed away. Beyond his many accomplished roles, he also had a social consciousness that spread to many of his charitable organizations. By all accounts he was a wonderful family man, director, friend, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and racing enthusiast.

Pictured here is Doc Hudson, a role where he was the voice of the iconic 1950's car I nearly bought about 15 years ago and with fellow actor/ humanitarian, Tim Robbins in The Hudsucker Proxy. Newman has said never really liked the role of corporate cad, Sidney J. Mussberger, but I thought it was a great role for him.

He will be sorely missed.

CCS 50 Buck Show

On September 12, CCS' Center Galleries staged a show requesting people donate a piece of art to their opening and had it revolve around the idea of $50. The tickets to get into the show were $50 (free if you contributed artwork) and to purchase a piece of artwork was $50. Needless to say, the multitude of friends of CCS, the Gallery and hordes of people donated well over 230 pieces to the show. The opening was a grand success as witnessed by the huge amount of people in attendance. Unlike other gallery openings where work is left on the walls to be enjoyed for a period after the opening, the walls were being picked clean a few hours after the opening. Sales were brisk and many happy patrons were seen taking home wonderful pieces by the end of the night.

Navy TV commercial art

Here's one frame from a series of shooting boards I just got done doing for the US Navy via RedOrange USA. The spots are geared towards the high school/ soon-to-be college age kid and will be shot in Hamtramck and Ann Arbor soon. I'm still not so sure how I survived working on these frames- I subbed for a colleague's classes, pulled the all-nighter banging out the frames and then I taught my all day classes with relatively no ill effects. I'm not questioning how or why but am thankful that I can.

Summer Cruising

For about the last dozen years I've had this car, the 1954 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe to which we've affectionately named The Beast. It has no power steering, no power brakes, no AC, no AM or FM radio, no cruise control and no frills. And yet every summer we take this "urban land yacht" out to cruise Woodward Avenue and the local roads. It handles like a charm! It drives like a boat where you have to make decisions well in advance and you sit way up in it like huge sofa on wheels. Sure, there are cars out there worth a lot more than mine, have tricked out chrome, a killer sound system, a sweet big block under the hood and can blow me away at the gate- but this has been a amazingly fun car to enjoy the Michigan summer months. It's not your typical tricked out cruise ride but it still turns just enough heads and we can feel the breeze come into the car as we accelerate up the boulevard.

First day of classes.

It's hard to believe today's the first day of classes for CCS. The freshmen have had an entire week of orientation after orientation, the faculty have syllabi & lesson plans ready, the groundskeepers have cleaned the place up pretty nicely and we're hopeful and awfully optimistic with this new year coming up. The cycle continues today.

Don LaFontaine passes.

Possibly one of the most distinctive voices in Hollywood, Don LaFontaine has passed away. He was by far one of the busiest and he's been heard doing practically every major movie premiere in recent memory.

I had the chance to hear the man work years ago when I had to meet an art director at a local recording studio in Southfield to pick up some storyboard work and they had Don LaFontaine on the voice patch to his Hollywood Hills studio. He was recording some Ford Truck TV commercials and to hear how he worked was amazing. His inflections were crisp and that voice could've moved mountains! Not only did he nail the spot in just a few takes, he'd also had fun and ran with the script. He'd heave out some pretty off handed remarks that surely would've made the client cringe if they had heard them aired. Many were unfit for public consumption, but to hear those remarks in that deep recognizable voice was hilarious.

He will be missed.