The Mysterious Traveller

I have recently realised the workout our fingers must get from typing on a keyboard, or perhaps I am simply too overcome with exhaustion from my first ten mile jog. That's right folks, the Electric Elkboy can run like an ambient missile, his luxuriant beard clinging on for dear life. I have assembled a 'cycling playlist' for my charity bike ride next weekend, so I think listening to the likes of Shaggy, Rick Astley and the Power Rangers theme tune have been truly inspirational throughout my training. Not actually trained on a bike yet though... There is under a week to go before we put pedal to the metal so if you fancy sponsoring myself (tactically in the middle) and Sam (with the air horn on his handlebars) then click right HERE  . It's for a hovercraft charity called HoverAid ,  reaching the unreachable , where super hovercrafts fly to Madagascar and save people. That is exactly what they do. I've had another busy month or so, hence the lack of blogging...

As soon as the fast-ticket collecting machine at Coventry railway station declared my booking confirmation was invalid and that it was near impossible to retrieve my E-ticket before my train departed, I stood there aghast and muttered some ungodly curses (much to the disgust of some nosey old biddy who clearly drives too slowly). What a perfect way to start my pilgrimage to the animation capital of the country. I almost made the decision to drive down to Bristol and began flailing between the platform and the bus stop, looking for somebody to slap me and say, Tom, you are a sad, strange little man and you have my pity. Now just buy another ticket you fucking eejit . Luckily enough it was the plasticine man inside my head who said this. I decided to worry about the additional £50 I forked out after the Encounters Festival and concentrate on getting to the afternoon screenings. Thus began my least favourite train ride ever.  Bit of blue for the dads; my second Encounters good...

I have decided to create a two-part post, where the 'before and after' scenario will hopefully give you guys a full chronicle of this years  Bristol Encounters Festival . As you may well know, our animation was successfully submitted and now proudly sits amongst many International competitors on the programme page of the website. It all seems a little daunting because you immediately start criticising your own animation and compare it to others; I have already noted the length of our animation (being one of the shortest). And yet, I recall the 2010 festival where one film screened a run time of 13 seconds and that went down very well. We have been placed in the category named 'Tooth and Claw' with another ten films and the description for this group is as followed: An outstanding collection of films featuring mammals and strange beasts. Whether the creature is endowed with human traits or the story explores the uses of animals, one thing is for sure: there’s noth...