Mike Fowler | Artist, Vegan, Human

Finally Some Artwork…

April 6th, 2009 § 4

…Not to say that I haven’t had artwork to show before this, because that certainly isn’t the case.

This weekend was, well, to say the least, pretty intensive. Between continuous crunch time and the concert last night, my body is pretty weary right now. Let me recap my day, more for my own interest than anything else. Woke up around 10:30, which was only acceptable because I didn’t get to sleep until 4:30 or so on Saturday night. Sat at my computer working until, oh, 15 minutes ago. Yup, there is (was) my day. I can’t complain though. Our game is going to be incredible, and the fact that we’re all pushing this hard to complete a game so massive in a little over three months time is awesome =]

Anyways, here’s a few teaser pieces, and then I need to get to sleep. One or two of these may be final, but they may not be, and there’s still a bunch of other environment pieces that need to be integrated. These are exported from Photoshop, by the way, these aren’t in engine. But you get the idea…

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The Devil Eats Emarosa: A Day to Remember

April 5th, 2009 § 1

Tonight at Club Soda, Emarosa, Sky Eats Airplane, and A Day to Remember opened up for the headline, The Devil Wears Prada.

On the walk home my mind was wandering and I decided I would come up with a description of each bands performance in 5 words of less:

Emarosa: “Johnny” + heaven
Sky Eats Airplane: “Bro-core ruined the pit“
A Day to Remember: “Right here, with my friends”
The Devil Wears Prada: 85% breakdowns?? Estimated, but seriously.

To be honest, I wasn’t even planning on staying for The Devil Wears Prada’s set because I’ve never been too much a fan of them. I ended staying since a few others that went were staying, and well, I did pay for the ticket, so. But anyways, I actually enjoyed them a lot more than I thought I would, and I was able to finally decide what it is that I dislike about them. First though, let me say that they have some of the most epic breakdowns I’ve ever seen live, behind some other bands like August Burns Red. And as I mentioned above, the songs are typically characterized by breakdowns. I would say that each song has probably 3 or 4 breakdowns, regardless of length. Most of the other parts of the songs other than the breakdowns I really can’t get into though. They all feel so unstructured and muddy. The highlights of each song were the breakdowns, for sure. Which I guess is good for them, because they’re great at them.

A Day to Remember played a fantastic set, including 4 or 5 tracks from the new album, a handful from For Those Who Have Heart, and two tracks from And Their Name Was Treason, including the extended version of “Heartless”, the one that can be found on the re-issue of For Those Who Have Heart. So incredible. Unfortunately they didn’t play “If It Means A Lot to You”, which I was really hoping for. C’est la vie.

I honestly can’t say I listen to Sky Eats Airplane much, nor do I think they’re anything too too special (other than their seamless blend of electro and metal), but I guess I can’t say anything other than they played a good set. Except for, as mentioned earlier, the pit was worthless during the whole set thanks to the typical handful of lame bro-core guys thinking they own the goddamn pit. I’m over it.

Emarosa. Gosh. Emarosa. Amazing live performance. I’d never seen Dance Gavin Dance play before Jonny left, so this was my first time experiencing the tour-de-force that is Jonny Craig And His Vocal Cords. Superb. There isn’t much else to say except for that the whole set I was standing in my spot with my face pointed toward the sky and singing as loud as I could. Doesn’t get much better than that =]

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Crunch Time Recipe

April 3rd, 2009 § 2

If you talk to me on a day-to-day basis, you know that I do a fair amount of cooking. For those of you who don’t, well, I do a lot of cooking. It’s pretty heavy crunch time right now, and will be for the next 4 weeks when the semester ends. To make things more hectic, we were told yesterday that Chris Crowell (or, the Creative Director for A2M) will be reviewing our games on the 14th. So that essentially gives us two weeks to get our game done and fairly polished. Cool.

Anyways, here’s my special recipe for crunch time:

Crunchy Time Workies

8 pounds of pixel art
~~1/2 teaspoon~~ pinch of sleep
tub of vanilla soy banana chocolate chip ice cream (made from scratch!)
24 hours * 7 days of music
14802 pictures of dogs (courtesy of wifey)
Phoenix’s “Girlfriend” on repeat (seriously, listen, you won’t regret it)

Combine all ingredients in a small bedroom. Bake until everything is done, and then bake some more just in case. Periodically slam on ground to ensure the Workies cook through. Cut into managable pieces and consume in responsible portions.

Just kidding. Small proportions don’t work. All or nothing. Or, all or fail at shipping game on time.

Getting back to work now, breaktime over…

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GDC 2009

April 1st, 2009 § 3

Game Developers Conference 2009

Well gosh, where to start…

Trying to right ahead and describe the experience of GDC (Game Developers Conference) in a blog post is rather difficult I’m finding. To start off with generalizations, GDC is simultaneously the nerdiest event and the most incredible networking opportunity I’ve ever partook in. I figured this would be the case beforehand, but as this was my first GDC I guess I was able to fully realize it and witness it firshand.

For those of you unaware, GDC is the largest gathering of game industry professionals in the world, and it happens once per year. Though there are several different locations for GDC now, including Europe, Canada and China, the one that is held every year in San Francisco is the original and largest of them all. Let me see if I can think of some things I noticed.

First off, it’s great to realize how close knit the game community really is. The rock stars of gaming, people like Will Wright (anybody who’s ever played a Sims game, or Spore, he’s your guy) or Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid anbody?), pictured below, are there and quite willing to talk with you.

Tuesday night when we arrived in San Francisco we pretty much immediately went out to get food and then headed over to the IGDA (International Game Developers Association) party. To be honest, it was 21+ and was supposed to be RSVP-only, but Max noticed that they weren’t even checking the list, so I ended up being able to get nonetheless. I’ll tell ya, nothing like networking at a party full of game devs, especially when a good majority of people have had a few drinks.

The three days after that were largely filled with lectures and topics that I could easily sit and listen to for weeks. Character Modeling Pipline for Gears of War 2, The Art of Braid, Designing Fear in Deadspace, and so on. It was nice getting to try a bunch of different restaurants while we were there as well, as we were basically eating out every single meal of the day. Chinese one night, Japanese another, Denny’s, Starbucks, Subway, some Bar & Grill. There was still really great place that I sought out on my own one day called Ananda Fuara. A fully vegetarian restaurant with quite a few vegan options. Not to mention, they claim to have “The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake in San Francisco”. I can’t say I had any other vegan chocolate cakes while I was in the city, but gosh was their’s good. A++

My (perhaps) favorite part of the 3 1/2 days in the city was Friday night. After the conference ended we (a bunch of students plus some faculty) took the trolly down to Fisherman’s Wharf, otherwise known as the biggest tourist trap in the city. They mostly wanted to go to a bar, and I, being the only person in attendance who is not of the legal age to responsibly consume alcohol (see: dumb laws), decided I’d rather just explore.

Anyways, I ended up walking from about 9:20 PM to 11:45 when I got back to the hotel. Nearly three hours (6 miles, I calculated) of walking in a city at night without a map. Yes. Please. It was undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had in a while, especially when I was lost for a while. I have some videos I took but I haven’t had the time to edit them yet. I’m up late enough as it is right now just making a regular post.

It was a great week, though I wish I didn’t have to come back and jump right back into crunch. But hey, c’est la vie. Hopefully I’ll get those videos edited by the weekend maybe. Time for sleepeepepepep.

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Ottawa: Fun to Say

March 21st, 2009 § 2

Really though, I like saying that word.

The building you see above is the Ottawa Parliament Building (I’m pretty sure). I would have taken a picture myself but I’m feeling lazy about taking pictures this trip. Plus, my own pictures wouldn’t have had a brigade of those guys standing in front of it.

Alex pointed out this morning that there’s a road and a huge amount of open, public space right in front of the building. An interesting statement about Canada as compared to the United States. I like it.

We went to a mint yesterday. Let me tell you, if you want to see wasted wealth, go to a mint. Look, here’s a gold bar worth $500,000 to represent our ability to make gold this pure and our success as a nation, blah blah blah. This doesn’t even have anything to do with Canada or the United States or nationalism and has everything to do with stupidity. You can make gold, congratulations. Sell it on the international market and use the money for beneficial purposes.

Hmm, let’s see what else. Went to the Museum of Civilization and saw an IMAX movie about mummies, during which I fell asleep for about 10 minutes. Sucks. It was a good movie, I promise, I just have issues when I’m in a dark room with a reclined seat and comfortable temperatures. Found a candy store called Candy Mountain!! Got some peanut butter bars and a bar of 85% cocoa. Delicioussssss.

SPEAKING OF WHICH. I had no idea how much saturated fat is in cocoa! Seriously, the bar of chocolate I got. It’s a 100 gram bar, and in half a damn bar there is 27 grams of fat, and 16 GRAMS OF SATURATED FAT! Like, what?? Seriously, had no idea. I mean, dark chocolate is still really good for you, but, ya know, now you’re aware too.

I need to go eat dinner now. I’m tired. I’m really tired. This week is going to be really stressful. Back to Montreal tomorrow, Burlington Monday, San Francisco Tuesday through Saturday. UGH.

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Learn Some Respect Ya Scenesters!

March 19th, 2009 § 2

I honestly can’t think of one negative thing about Montreal. Except wait, I can. Because obviously there would be no need to write this post if that first sentence were true.

As far as music goes, Montreal is spot-on, top of the line, five-star, two-tier, premium… basically any band I want to see, they’ll be through here within the year. However, due to my personality or maybe just the music scene I was brought up in, I have a very difficult time going to shows and not interacting in some way, may it be dancing, sing-alonging, head-bobbing, foot-tapping, fist-pumping. A lot of you will agree with me on that, but nevertheless I’m still amazed at the number of people who simply stand still and watch, or worse yet, sit and watch their favorite band play, going even so far as to get (or pretend to get) annoyed when people around them bump into them while they are dancing. But I digress, I’m getting off track…

My point is, the people at a show, those who I am experiencing and participating in the music with, can really make or break a show for me. It’s true, it really is. Let’s go over a few points from the show tonight. I saw Innerpartysystem, Norma Jean, and Underoath at Club Soda. All three performances: stellar, especially Innerpartysystem who puts on an incredible visual display and whose sound absolutely knocks you off your feet.

Here I am, in the pit, in my own space dancing, and I get knocked down. Nothing atypical here, it’s a hardcore pit, this happens. I fall backwards and land on my behind. First thing I do? The first thing anybody who’s been in a pit before would do: stick your arm up! I stuck my arm up and waited for somebody…anybody… to help me back to my feet. Nothing. No attempt, no grabbing, no glances downwards. Really? REALLY?
This is the one that really set me off. Hardcore dancing is all about self expression. There’s always the stereotypical hardcore dancing moves that people do, but people can really come up with their own styles of dancing, and this is what makes it so interesting. Well, apparently my style wasn’t really cutting it. Here I am, two-stepping during Norma Jean’s set, and somebody next to me (mind you, not even in the pit themselves) kicks my legs out from underneath me. Flat out, kicks my legs. I fall from 3 feet up flat on my back. Cool. REAL cool.

Learn. Some. Respect.

I’m tired and done ranting. Goodnight and good….night?

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The Power Toast Burrito

March 12th, 2009 § 2

Tonight I would like to tell a story.

For those unfamiliar, Power Toast is the process by which one toasts bread and then covers it with peanut butter. This provides a tasty snack in addition to a quick boost of energy from the carbs and protein.

Well, tonight, on the 3rd night of me getting less than 5 hours of sleep, I was very hungry. I have these burrito shells that I brought back from the States over spring break, and boy are they delicious. I also had one piece of bread left from a loaf that I really should have finished by now, and I’ve been wary of it starting to mold. In addition, I normally make two pieces of power toast at once.

It was then that this idea came to me. Power Toast. It could so easily be Power Burrito. But no, I have to finish that last piece of bread. And there it was… Power Toast Burrito. I toasted the bread while I warmed up a burrito shell in the microwave. I then spread 100% natural peanut butter (Ingredients: Peanuts, no joke) on the burrito shell, and then on the piece of bread. Then, the piece of bread was placed into the shell, wrapped, and eaten. Let me tell you, it was the best Power Toast Burrito I’ve ever had.

If you want to smile or maybe dance right now, then just play the video below. I know many of you have probably seen/heard this the first time around when I got addicted to Sabrepulse, but I just was listening to his music again today and remembered how absolutely sickeningly happy and fun this song is. Farewell.

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And Crunch Hits…

March 11th, 2009 § 0

If I had the time I would update this blog every single day of my wonderful life, but man, the time is getting tight already as we’re approaching the end of the semester. That in itself pains me to say, but it’s true that this semester in Montreal is already over half over. I do not know HOW that happened so fast, but I want it to go longer.

I’m simultaneously writing this post and studying for a midterm that I had all spring break to study for. But you know how that goes. I don’t even have any pictures or anything to post. This is mostly just a filler post. Do you feel like you’re wasting your time right now? I do apologize for that.

Check out this artist, http://www.lawrencepaulyuxweluptun.com/

All the pieces are on the Retrospective page, he does some really amazing stuff. Here’s one of my favorites…

I’ll try to get some more artwork up from The Eve soon. Husam and I are going to be creating an insane amount of art in a short amount of time. Gulp.

It’s been warming up here in the past couple days, and by that I mean its hovering around 32 degrees, which is basically flannel shirt weather compared to what I’ve experienced since January. It’s definitely a different city when it isn’t covered in snow. People seem happier, there’s more bustle and more smiles. I’m really enjoying it, and I’m definitely looking forward to being able to go hike up to the top of Mount Royal.

But gosh, I really need to stop blogging and finish studying for this damn middterm so I can wake up in 6 hours for my 8:30 class. End.

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It’s Done!

March 7th, 2009 § 2

As difficult as it is for me to say that any creative endeavor of mine is “done”, I think I can now say that my portfolio site is DONE!

www.mikefowlerartist.com

Not quite the domain name that I wanted to get, but it turns out that Michael Fowler is a much more popular name that I had thought. Whatever, it’s still pretty decent, and maybe that extra keyword will help my search engine hits. In any case, this is the portfolio that I will be using to apply to internships for this summer, so hopefully the work pays off. I think for once I’m going to finish a website and not touch it again for a little while, with the exception of any recommended changes by professors and some industry professionals that I reviewing it.

In otherwise unrelated events, it’s been a busy last few days. Was in Boston on Wednesday for the night with Brittany, hung out with Sean and Spencer as well as Greg and Jackson. Watched Lost together and afterwards some Ze Frank. A very nostalgic hang out sesh indeed, at least as far as Sean and Spencer go. Thursday night saw me in New Haven to see Chris and Cadah. Got some food, met some people, watched some TV, made fun of Yale, had a good Friday morning breakfast. Hanging out with nothing better to do has always and will always be my favorite. Had some people over tonight as well, good to see a few certain people who I don’t see often these days.

Heading back up to Burlington tomorrow for a night, and then back to Montreal on Sunday. It has been a good break, despite the fact that I didn’t really need it very much, and also despite the fact that most people are just starting their break this week. Such is life. My bedtime has been surpassed by almost three full hours, so I think its about time I wrapped this up and got to sleep. If ya’ll have any critique on the portfolio site, by all means comment and let me know. I’m neccesarily good at accepting critique =]

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Why Twitter?

March 3rd, 2009 § 3

So, first there was myspace, mainly focused on pictures and keeping in touch with friends. Then came facebook, which started as a social tool as well, but then turned into the most effective way to procrastinate on the internet, with the possible exception of StumbleUpon. As time went on I noticed that the only thing I did on facebook that didn’t waste my time was checking people’s statuses and updating my own.

Well, along comes Twitter, which essentially extracts facebooks status update functionality and builds a community around it. There are definitely a lot of people who don’t understand why you would want constant updates from people, but I’ll attempt to explain it in a rational way that isn’t simply, “start using it, you’ll understand”, which is truthfully what a lot of Twitter users (myself included) say when asked why it’s a worthwhile application.

Twitter allows me to maintain a social network online that is limited to the people I choose, meaning I can choose who to receive updates from. Facebook can lead to awkward discussions if you deny the friend request of a certain person you wish not to interact with. Twitter, on the other hand, allows a person to follow your updates, but you are in no way obligated to follow them as well. The result? Your social circle remains the same size and the other person isn’t offended. Unless you block them, that’s a different issue. Furthermore, Twitter’s 140 character limit makes sure that any updates I get from other people take about half a second of my time, and doesn’t then pull me in to looking at pictures of people I don’t know for an hour, which inevitably leads to playing Pirates or Scrabble on Facebook when I should be writing a paper.

Twitter is all about a small social network of people that you actually care about keeping tabs on without the distractions of other social networking sites.

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