Fullscreen strongly recommended for this little bit of lovely:

The animation is gorgeous and the subject matter creepy - a delightful combination.  I was a bit put off by the ending, as I felt that the new doll appearing by itself took something away from the opening sequence with Alma writing her name on the slate.  I suppose it works this way as well, but I like the idea that the slate is connected - that the act of writing one’s name upon it dooms the writer.  Instead, the ending seems to suggest that the slate is not relevant and that instead the child’s fate is sealed before she even enters the alley, which I find a bit dissatisfying. Still, all in all it’s a wonderful bit of animation.

Credits:

Written and Directed by: Rodrigo Blaas
Produced by: Cecile Hokes
Music: Mastretta
Art Director: Alfonso Blaas
Lighting Supervisor: Jonatan Catalán
Character Technical Supervisor: Jaime Maestro
Character Design: Bolhem Bouchiba, Carlos Grangel,
Sergio Pablos, Santi Agustí
Animation: Daniel Peixe, ManueBover, Remi Hueso
Sound Design: Tom Myers and David Hughes
Post Production Coordinator: David Heras

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

Pottery Night, starring Sophie, Kristien, Dad and Jef!

Dad shows off a shockingly good caricature of his brother:

I finished Xmas presents for my sister and mom:

Jef made some hilarious critters which I think he called skrogs:

Sophie directed:

…and also made a rather impressive little mouse in a house:

Afterward we ate too much Chinese food and Sophie taught Jef to play Pattycake:

The rest of the night went a lot like this:

Er…I mean bowls.

Lots of bowls.

Clever Husband points out that the photographs look like faces, so if you’re not amused by pottery, you can just imagine them having a conversation.  Also, the very first bowl has a largish beetle in it.

If you haven’t checked out my gallery recently, you might want to mosey on over there to see some of the photos I’ve taken over the summer.  Here are a few of the most recent additions:

If you’re not my mom, you can also look at my most recently completed pottery project here, here, here and here.  If you are my mom, don’t go there because you will ruin your birthday surprise.

In other, nerdier news, I am terribly excited to start my new classes next week.  It should be a fun year, with three chemistry classes, a smattering of bio, and some english and stats thrown in for good measure.  Anyone want to buy me a new netbook for school?