Meet Randall-cito, Holdiay skin [and other updates], and big news for SMAF.

I am unconscionably behind. Updates will remain sparse for the next several days, as I'm trying to get through a huge backlog of films I've missed this year before the start of the next [we'll see on that one], and I still have a lot of holiday-related things breathing down my neck, mostly in the form of taking decoration down, New Years activities, and the prerequisite "thank you" notes that need to go out. Also looking to seeing if the things I sent to people got to their intended destinations. Plus there are, for various reasons, a handful of folks who are going to be getting things from me post-Christmas, mostly because they either weren't in the country, or what I had planned on sending them sort of... kind of... hadn't been released yet. Poor planning, all around.

I have also gotten a plethora of rad things I'd like to show off here, but that involves dragging out the scanner, which is going to take time. After my uncle and cousin where here, a lot of things were tucked away to keep my room from looking like a closet with a bed in it, and digging that out is going to be a whole evening kind of thing [seriously, Jenga-level stacking of things going on].

But... here's something kind of cool. From Kyle Quinn, puppet maker of "Seth Martin and Friends" fame, based on the designs by Glen "Mario's Closet" Brogan, a Christmas gift that sort of perfectly serves my narcissism:

Pretty good likeness, wouldn't you say? But wait, let's check:

Oh yeah. Definitely seeing a resemblance. And possibly a nice proxy to send along when I want to get out of things. It was a lovely gift from Kyle, and everyone in the group got one, leading to a pretty hilarious group photo that I'm pretty sure will be popping up on some social networking site eventually.

Speaking of Kyle, Glen, and the rest of the Brainwrap crew, they recently got some much-needed and well-deserved press on the Huntington, WV Herald-Dispatch. It's a really good intro to the work their doing if you haven't been following their Facebook page [and just why haven't you been?], and if Glen's blog post on the article is any indication, it's the first write-up the group and the web show has gotten which Brainwrap has really been pleased with. So definitely go and check that out.

Plus, even though we are past Christmas proper [and I hope every one's was lovely], "Seth Martin and Friends" had not one, but two Christmas-themed shorts that came out for the holiday season, and since we have not yet reached New Years, and I'm guessing most of you still have trees up, you might wander over to the SMAF YouTube channel and check out "Trace's Tree (A Christmas Special)" and "Arthur's Gift."

I have writing to do, and ever since the half-mad winter spent slaving over the "Trendsetter" first draft, not slaving away into the wee hours of the morning on something kind of makes me feel like I'm wasting my time. But lately I've noticed I'm getting a lot more from reading and watching the good works of others than doing much myself, though once things slow down after January 1st, I'm getting back to the peep show script, and "VHS Generation."