FLASH ANIMATIONS w/MUSIC

Café Momolu
2000-2003.
Is it surprising that young Jocko is so maladjusted and goofy? What forces impelled Jacko to chuck a successful show business career and flee to America? And let us not forget the beautiful and shrewd Momolu... why would she trade the Bohemian comforts of a lucrative waterfront café for the middle class life across the sea? This short document answers only the first question, and that answer is Non! 686KB

Here Comes Xmas
Hell, I figured that most people could relate to a sendup of the season. From the response, most viewers were either offended or left cold. Me, I thought I leavened cynicism with a healthy dollop of genuine nostalgia. Look quickly and you will see bleary little dull-eyed Gary under the tree one very early Xmas morning. All of the nostalgia shots are the truly remarkable work of one Frits van der Steur, who took a lot of guff in his life for his photographic endeavors, but whose black and white Xmas documents often achieved a sort of transcendence and which display a love of the season that sometimes lurks unseen in even the most jaded. Bonus: if you grew up in Phoenix, you might recognize part of the annual Christmas eve address of one Homer Lane, whose take on Xmas... and gambling... was as heartfelt as it was bizarre. 1.29MB

Land Of The Incas
This ditty came to me once as I sat and pondered the music of Dan Hicks. Years later, after discovering the possibilities of midi, I somehow arranged the thing and somehow recorded vocals on my Apple mic and somehow put it together with the Flash animation you see here. Most of the imagery is taken from Inca sources, as if that mattered, with one notable exception. The surtitles were an afterthought placed there because I couldn't stand people not being able to fully appreciate my noble rhymes. 697K

Louisa
A tiny paean, of sorts, to my mother's Ozark grandma, whose life arc from Missouri to Arizona was shaped by a tragically ill daughter, an abandoning husband, and her own considerable wit and will. This was a project that suggested itself to me while I was poring over old family photos and ruminating about: my family (both living and dead) and how little I really know about them; the brevity of life and fragility of memory (truly a seminar to be conducted in French); and about the loss of self through grief. It is, I suppose, a coming to terms with my parents' deaths... and the hideous realization pursuant to that particular train of thought. 'Louisa' led straight into my extended exploration of another great-grandparent, Rudolf. (See TVBMP below and Bagatelle, following.) 896K

Bagatelle
The title was suggested by my sister Lisa, who, in reminding me that Dvorak was another Czech who journied to these shores, also mentioned his Bagatelles, which Dvorak wrote for string trio and harmonium. As I am fond of the concertina sound and am comfortable with this being a mere bagatelle, the title seemed appropriate. (See music below.) What I can't rightly reconcile is that American folk song feel to a tune ostensibly from Moravia. Pictured at left is, we think: Anton, The Brother Who Stayed Home. Other images used are from that place and general time, except the Kindly Old Woman. Not Grandma Dear; perhaps dear mother Anna Auer who joined Rudolf and the kids in the new world around the turn of the century. There was a Marie Krist in the group of friends back in Moravia... I extrapolated from this fact and made her and Rudy sweethearts. 836K

Tango
Tantalizing, unfinished disaster which ended when I lost all in an unrecoverable Macromedia Flash ® crash. Sometimes the patient can't be saved... due to grossly crappy software. (It couldn't have been me!) Still, I like the music and the way it's starting to look. At the freeze, our boy is reaching for a dancing partner. Just as well I lost it... I never figured out what he was gonna pull out for the big finish. 273K