Farewell, Bronskis Dairy

Sad news is not far from the headlines around here after the earthquake, and although it came as no surprise, the demolition of Bronskis Dairy on Ferry Road was a sad loss for the community.

Wasn't it just a dairy?

No, it wasn't just a dairy. It was more than a dairy, and not just because of that tagline, but because of the awesome murals that adorned the walls. Unfortunately it never crossed my mind that one day they would be gone, so I didn't get photos. Fortunately another blogger took these as part of a building murals series...




The building had an iconic mural splashed across the front of the building. It features a mob of 1930's type Chicago mobsters, presumably to let potential robbers know they could "fuhgeddaboudit" and to the side a couple of old ladis having a good ole laugh.

The mural was well known around Christchurch. It was painted on the dairy back int he day when all their competitors could do was paint up their shop fronts in big tobacco livery. It was one of the first buildings to get featured on the fledgling CTV television back in the day. A dairy I grew up around, went to to spend my pocket money, made a grey neighbourhood colourful.
Now it's gone.

I hope they rebuild the dairy. I also hope that some kind of mural will go up in honour of this one which we have lost. Preferably, this one! A plain boring 'normal' dairy just wont do. This is Bronskis, it is more than a dairy.

The old ladies need to smile again.

Eastgate is Open!

Normality of sorts has returned to the eastern suburbs with the welcome news that Eastgate has reopened. I went down to take a look at the mall for the first time since the Feburary earthquake ripped it's guts out. There are a number of very significant changes down there, not just the fact that half of the mall was demolished. The mall food court area has been braced with millions of support like structures both on the roof and the walls. They appear to have been turned into some kind of feature. I quite like the ones on the wall, they're steel bars and some even have lights embedded in them. The roof ones are wood and are not as nice, they are in fact, quite ugly. It looks like someone has gone and glued millions of little popsicle sticks to the roof. The escalator to the first floor is still behind the construction zone, and there is a new kind fo escalator out the front. This one is rather weird because the steps do not move! A helpful shop assistant informed me that they call this new kind of manual-stepping escalator stairs. The scaled-back Eastgate is temporary, however temporary in this case may mean a few years. My money is on at least five before they're ready to rebuild the lost parts.They're certainly building it with some nice features that I hope aren't lost when the mall expands again. Shops that open out on to the car park provide the new mall with some nice glass frontage that has been lacking since the concrete gulag was constructed in 2001. Change the name back, and this scaled down mall would be idyllic. This video below would be appropriate for the occasion.

Photoshop Tuesday: Lunar Havoc

Turning my photoshop skills to the Bay Area. I turned this rather mundane image of the Golden Gate bridge....


Into this:
The idea came to me at work. A phenomenally large moon over the Bay Area. Then I wondered, what would be the result? so I had to have the moon play havoc with the tide, as it would. This scenario is enough to make Ken Ring blush!

I sampled two other sources for the moon and the sand. I used a smudge and burn technique to colour the sand so it looks like as it would if the ocean had suddenly been ripped from it. The removal of the washed-out look was achieved by adjusting the colour balance.

This is Going to be Harder...

I feel a wave of discouragement hit me this week as my dream to work for the amazing animation company known as Pixar hit it's first snafu.

I'm getting a clear picture of what my life could look like from Google Earth. I find nice apartments, the Pixar HQ and a faith community, that are within a nice walking distance triangle from each other. I got a message from the church podcast about new things happening in 2011. Things were falling into place, it seems.
However, immigration visa problems have hit. Hard. Turns out that getting a permit to live and work in the USA could be my biggest hurdle, besides actually landing the dream job. My only hope is the H1B visa, which is the one where the company itself nominates the employee for the visa. To get this I have to be exceptional, a real cut above the rest.

I'm determined to be, of course. I am planning some real wacky and out-of-the-box ideas for a showreel that is out of the ordinary, fresh and original. I can't say what these ideas are, but they're very close to what Pixar want to see in a reel and what I've failed to see in reels so far.

So it's discouraging to see that crossing over tot he land of opportunity takes more than an a ticket across the Pacific and sheer determination. It also takes the scissors of iron and steel, to cut the fierce red tape of immigration.

God help me!

Eastgate Reopening on 26th July

This is fantastic news. Eastgate shopping centre will reopen on the 26th of July having been shut by the devastating February 22 Earthquake.

Countdown and The Warehouse have both opened in recent months, adding a little bit of normality into our quake ravaged lives. The reopening of the rest of the mall will be the finishing touch. I cannot wait to go back to the mall, I can't believe how much I have missed it, then again you don't really appreciate something until it's gone.

The centre is smaller now. Many shops will not be back immediately, as they needed to be demolished. In the short term a car park has been made on the site where they once stood. How many years it will be until they rebuild those shops is anyone's guess. I reckon we'll be looking at four or five years at least.

This blog was inactive at the time of the quakes, so nothing in the past before the reboot dealt with what we went through. Getting these shops back is a ray of sunshine bleeding into the darkness of a very long, cold winter.

Why Kids Movies Rule

Kids movies rule. I'd rather watch the latest 3D animated feature than the dull dross served up to more "adult" audiences. They got Cars 2 this summer, while adult audiences were served The Hangover 2. The more infantile movie here is Hangover. Cars is a thoroughly fun and entertaining film for everyone.

The newer movies, pushed by Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks, are aiming to entertain adult audiences as well as the young ones. I'd call them a guilty pleasure, but I feel no guilt about enjoying them. They've got great stories, witty and sharp dialogue and animation is just so cool. There is nothing like seeing a computer-drawn car burst to life on the big screen and, recently, with the 3D screens, jump out at you. There is a clever use of vibrant colours and wacky set designs that draw you into another world. Escapism. An hour and a half passes by all to quickly and then, it's back to a grey, wintery night.

I can see why this is the dream job that I chase. To be a part of bringing that big, vibrant world of animation to life.

Animated features do 3D better than live action. They don't treat their audiences like idiots and as a result, a near 30 year old like myself can enjoy them as much as a ten year old. It didn't always used to be like that, but it is now.

Chasing the Dream

I have sent away fro a Natcoll enrolment pack, it is the start of a long journey toward my goal of becoming an employee at Pixar.

It's a dream that gets rekindled in me every time I see one of their films, although now I am determined more than ever to make something out of it. I can't push trolleys for the rest of my life, I need more, I want more. A more fulfilling purpose, where I can use my God-given passions and abilities.
I asked myself, just where can I go to work every day and be happy? This is where. Making feature films a world away from the drudgery of trolley collection. Even the monotony of moving the 433rd node into position 9870 to make a character smile is more exciting than that. I know that animating is hard work full of repetition, but it is hard work full of repetition, that turns into Hollywood gold. The feeling of achieving something great, that will endure for generations.

Not to mention the fantastic facilities that are available at the Pixar campus, and a work life ethic that values and encourages creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. This is why they make hit movie after hit movie, and haven't slipped up. 12 feature films with critical and/or box office success, a record in the industry like no other, an envy to their rivals.

I am willing to do what it takes to get there, Long hours of study and work ahead of me. I really really want to be a part of their team. I ask for your prayers and support for this journey. It will be quite an experience.

4D Rebooted

The old Gazza4D is gone. I decided to reboot the blog and start from scratch. All those old political posts wont fit here anymore.

G4D 2.0 is now focused on life, entertainment and faith. One major new component will be me posting here about my journey towards working for Pixar, which is my dream job. You can see in this photoshopped image tot he right that I'm mad keen on the prospect of one day landing the gig and moving on over to Emeryville, California.


What to expect from the new Gazza4D:

• The Pixar Journey - What I'm doing towards the goal of Pixar Employee
  
• At the Movies - Film Reviews
• Graphical Deviation: Photoshopped pictures and logo designs
  
• InFaith - Musings about all things connected to my faith
• Life - Work, Home, and anything else which does not fit the above criteria.

What NOT to expect from the new Gazza4D:

• Politics
• Bible thumping
• nonsense

Out with the old, in with the new. If you have a blog and would like to be linked, then let me know. I've removed all my old links since most of them are now dead and/or broken blog sites. Welcome to the future, enjoy your stay. :)