Float like a butterfly, sting like a Jellyfish

Best day ever? Probably.



I went to Jellyfish Labs to have lunch with Phil Vischer today - he's the guy who made VeggieTales and is starting a sweet as new Christian kids network - look it up at http://www.jellytelly.com/

He took me to Shane's deli, and we had Larry's grinders, which were quite aptly named. It's just a pity there weren't some Bob's colas to go with it or something. Heh, coz then it would be Bob and Larry, just like on VeggieTales. Get it? That would've been funny. In any case, Phil shouted, which pretty much automatically makes him a likeable bloke. Check out his blog on my side panel.

We talked about all sorts of important stuff - predominantly God, this new network, how it's going to work and all that kind of thing. It was just so mega exciting to be able to talk with a guy who's putting his whole job in the faith category - no one really knows if this new thing will work or not. All the funding is through "ravens" as he put it, little instalments that you never know where they're going to come from. Absolutely exciting, love it :)

It was also awesome because we talked about animation and recent movies, their budgets, how they work, what makes them work etc. Finally I found someone I could actually have those conversations with in person - now the rest of you guys probably don't have to put up with my random tidbits and boring conversations!

After we had lunch, Phil drove us through Wheaton Bible College's grounds and showed me around - it was Billy Graham's college, apparently which is kinda cool. It looks like a pretty cool place.

But the coolest place was Jellyfish labs itself. After we got back, I hung around for a few more hours and chatted with Liz and Bill, who are two of the five staff at the place. The whole place has an awesome set up, where basically they're trying to make the best quality stuff on a fairly cheap budget - in film terms. What it meant was that there were a few Mac Pros, a few greenscreens and all the proper lighting and cameras and stuff - it was aaaaaaaawesome. Loved being there! I was fiddling on a quadcore Mac Pro with the biggest Apple screen you could get...

...and I was using it to transcribe the audio from an old Moody Science Institute DVD. Listening to ten seconds and typing it down, listening, typing. Can anyone say "overpowered machine for the work"? Whatever the case, it MUST be an awesome place if you can be doing a monotonous task like that and still having a blast, which I was.

It was just great to be there and seeing this great vision matched with this great faith found in all the guys who worked there. A real inspiration and I really can't wait to see how it all pans out for them. Be praying for JellyTelly!

Now I've just gotta work out whether God's calling me to Wheaton... I really wouldn't be complaining if He did, hey. Love it.