Chris P. O'Connell

As one can infer from my other blog or my portfolio , video game art and animation are passions of mine. Since I know that these are interests shared by at least a few readers of this blog, I thought I'd share this really nifty site I just stumbled upon. http://www.newwavemugen.com/~zweifuss/index.htm While the animated images are obviously protected by copyright, they are still great for learning purposes. Lord knows, if pixel animation wasn't so time consuming, just for the love of it, I'd have banged out at least a few 2D fighting games or martial arts side-scrollers by now. ...and of course, being Street Fighter and me being me (sometimes, I still have to fight the urge to dig my pockets for quarters when I see a X-Men Vs. Street Fighter arcade machine), playing around with this site just makes it harder to fight the thoughts of high hopes for Street Fighter 4 , especially after Capcom's recent teaser trailer ... but no worries, I'm sure those hopes will be ad

Happy and wacky holiday wishes to everyone! =)

Do all chicks dig Monet? Seriously... It seems, whenever I get into a conversation about artists with a woman (unless that woman is an artist herself) a huge percent of the time, the lady will say, "well, I like Monet" ...typically after some off-the-cuff comment about not getting Picasso or another abstract genius. I know the work of Monet is pretty, but a lot of paintings are pretty. What's the deal? Don't get me wrong, I have taught both Art and Art History and I have nothing against Monet. I know Monet, I get Monet, and even though he's not my cup of tea, I certainly don't dislike Monet ...but before I let this turn into a long oddball rant: Could someone please tell me what is up with chicks and Monet?

The video below is a short film created by my friend and former student Rajat Sharma. Animation enthusiasts out there should remember Rajat's name and keep an eye out for it, because there's no doubt in my mind he's one of those people we'll see lots of more cool and interesting stuff from in years yet to come. Awesome job, dude! ;)

For the most part, things in south Maui have returned to relative normalcy since the recent storms. However, the beaches have spent quite some time out of commission, so I decided to break out some old watercolor paints and just make my own. As most trained artists know, painting in watercolor is a lot trickier and considerably less forgiving than painting digitally or with oils; but it's been a while since I’ve spent serious time working in this medium, and it is often quite refreshing to travel familiar old paths.

As a couple of my readers know, I’ve had a house guest for the past couple weeks. My roommate’s brother, the ultra-chill, semi-albino, wonder-dude we will refer to as Andy H. (The H is necessary because I already know a few very cool individuals named Andy.) In this morning’s display of his coolness, Andy H got up early and made us a breakfast worthy of the Halls of Valhalla. These edible Elan Vital paintings are banana pancakes with maple syrup AND an icing made from a heated concoction of peanut butter and vanilla cake frosting. As with any pancake dish, a beverage is totally required, and these things are so sweet and thick, they are definitely NOT an exception! I was only able to eat three of them, and hours later, my stomach still feels the yummy mass of sweet culinary kick-ass-ness. Muchas yummy gracias, dude!

To those of you who have been having trouble getting me for the past couple days, it might kinda-sorta have something to do with the insane tropical storms we’ve been having on Maui this week. The rains knocked out power in my town for about a day and a half, while causing considerable property damage island-wide. To those of you who were concerned with my abrupt disappearance from the grid, thank you , but please do not worry. Aside from the frustrations of computer withdrawal, some dampness and using the bathroom in the dark, my roommates and I are fine. Nope... the color isn't really off in this picture... Those are indeed brown waves. :( Sure several local roads and beaches are ruined for the time being, but I have to admit, we were lucky on my side of the island...and from what I hear, some folks in other parts of Maui were not nearly so lucky . So, if you are able to, please give to the Maui affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International . Even though the national news

Last month, I discovered the most adorable art-related show ever on youtube, and now I'm ridiculously hooked. Kinda funny, because I've been thinking about doing some kind of video blogging for a while now, and Val's premise is similar to one of my several ideas. However, I don't think a moody, burly, bald guy would be able to pull something like this off nearly as well as this cutie... but that's OK... because Val is artsy, visual candy as she follows her wonderful dream with a childlike charm that I could and would rather watch any day. Now, I don't know Val personally (although, would love the pleasure)... but I'm going to go on the line here and predict that it's only a matter of time before some cable channel like Discovery or Nickelodeon will approach her to do a kid's show or something some day. However, until that happens, we'll all just have to hang loose and eat your cookies . :) http://valsartdiary.com/

"These aren't put up for decoration!" ...or at least that's what a lifeguard told me today when he ordered me and a couple other guys out of the water and basically scolded us for being a bit too far out on a stormy day. "I don't see fins on you guys. Things in the water have fins. Things in the sky have wings." Fortunately, in spite of his shamanic sense of metaphor, the know-it-all smartass in me was able to keep quiet, so we weren't kicked off the beach all together. Still, he was right. Even with a decent boogie board, it is tricky as hell to effectively move out there once you get past the white water... and ironically, with 5-15 foot waves, the white water is the part that frikkin' kicks your ass the most! So, I guess today's lesson is: If you're a crazy a-hole who likes to go boogie boarding in the rain, be sure to wear some fins.

This is a repost from the NinjaGirl Productions Blog ... because I think these causes sound cool enough to be mentioned multiple times: Recently, the following causes have come to our attention, and we think they are pretty damn cool. Please check them out, and if you think they are cool too, please come together and give them whatever support you can. http://www.childsplaycharity.org/ - Provides toys, books and video games to sick kids in children's hospitals on four continents http://www.videogamevoters.org/ - A network of American voters trying to defend free speech and creativity in video games from intrusive US legislation and regulation. http://www.xogiving.org/ - Provides laptop computers to children in developing nations, who otherwise have almost no access to education or means of self-expression. " Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness." - Napoleon Hill

There are only certain things I miss about New England since moving to the Pacific. Near the top of that list is Thanksgiving Day with my brothers, parents and cousins. Even on the outskirts of Lahaina, no picnic on the beach could ever compete with Mom’s cooking surrounded by the dramatic comedy that is my family. However, today in the Maui sunshine, I chose to be content with a simple meal, a boogie board and some new friends. Despite certain hardships, I am very grateful for a lot of things and people in my life right now. To all the folks who have continued to stand by me near and far, as well as those with whom I’ve shared simpler kindness and have since parted ways: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Last week, while I was raising unholy heck around the island with my German buddy ( see previous entry ), the holiday issue of Maui Mailer hit tens of thousands of mailboxes across Maui . Now if you have a copy, trust me, don’t just toss it. Maui Mailer is the only magazine I know of on this island that sincerely dedicates itself toward real quality print advertising both for and to Kama 'aina. Plus, it has some interesting articles, good deals, event announcements, charity stuff, and best of all , a whole bunch of ads and artwork designed by yours truly. ;) So, before you need to wrap some fish or line the cat-box, actually take a look through it and let yourself be surprised... and better yet, if you have a business on Maui , and need a great new advertising angle, contact them today , cuz you can't beat it.

As many people know, I was a bit hard to get a hold of last week. As many of those people know, it was because my old friend Carsten was visiting from Europe. Carsten is originally from Frankfurt, but these days, he's dealing with the British while working in jolly-old London. Fortunately, he was able to divert himself here last week, right before a big business trip to Southern California. The two of us went to school together years ago, back when I briefly lived in Australia. These days, we only get to see each other about every other year on average. So, whenever we do get together, we always try to make it a helluva thing to remember! For example, this time... We had meals in humble surroundings. ...and acquainted ourselves with marine life. We also got really high... ...visited a goddess... ...and journeyed past the end of the road. Carsten was happy to see that he wasn't the only one representing German coolness in Maui... ... and he was oddly fascinated with the notio

I use to love thermoses. When you’re a little kid at school, that’s what you got, your lunch box and your trusty thermos. Mom packs them up all nice for you and you always knew the thermos would keep your juice cold and your soup warm, and as a little kid you can only ponder the magic and wonder, “How does it know?” Best of all, both the lunch box and the thermos were always tough as hell, so if you drop them, maybe a little dent or scratch, but no worries. If a bully messes with you, you could always hit them in the face with either the lunch-box or thermos and then run like Hell, and all would be good. Yeah, I use to love thermoses... until recently. In my apartment we have a seemingly nifty thermos. It is a one-liter “Add-A-Cup” Thermos brand bottle (pictured left). It supposedly keeps warm stuff warm for a full 12 hours and cold stuff cold for twice that. As you can see in the pic, it’s made of that tough-looking red plastic that people are just socially conditioned t

This still being my first year living in Hawaii , of course I had to go check out Halloween in Lahaina. Apparently it is one of those events that people come from far and wide for and it’s quite the staple in contemporary Maui culture. Now, first of all, I’d like to go on record and say that people talked this thing up to me way too much. I went in thinking it was going to be like Mardi-Gras with all sorts of dangerous partying and crazy Girls Gone Wild crap all over the place; and while it was indeed quite crazy and somewhat raunchy, it certainly wasn’t of the caliber I was set up to expect. However, being a Halloween person who grew up with people who usually gave it limited due (with preference to occasions like Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter), I felt extremely gratified to finally be amidst folks with true spirit in celebrating Halloween. In my opinion it’s the most fun holiday of all if you just let go and allow yourself be young again... and trust me, many of the cool f

Ever since moving to Hawaii, every day I consider myself a little more Kaamaina and less Masshole ...but still, always a member of Red Sox Nation . On behalf of all decent former New Englanders living on Maui: Mahalo, Muchas Gracias, ども ありがと and Thank You for the GREAT JOB this year, guys!

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been somewhat fascinated with the work of Deepak Chopra and certain Vedic perspectives on spirituality. My interest sort of started with this video in particular and just kind of expanded from there. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6165305576181681554 Relatedly, a few days ago, I read some interesting stuff about brainwave coherence through listening to Vedic chants, very similar to what is discussed in this video . http://youtube.com/watch?v=heQRzysMVbo ...and yesterday, I was giving this phenomenon some serious thought while contemplating taking up yoga. Yoga and transcendental meditation are things I’ve tried on occasion in the past, and for years now, a few people have been suggesting I take them up more seriously ...and lately, I’ve been taking the suggestion more seriously. Anyhow, while pondering all this, on a completely unrelated web search, I came across two websites that had Vedic chants you can download as mp3. …and when the

Over the past several weeks, many of my friends have been rather involved in charities and other causes. In an interesting case of synchronicity, just yesterday, not one, but two of them, contacted me for support, and from opposite sides of the planet no less. 1. In New England, my friend Karo is walking to fight breast cancer . Now, just about any cancer is evil, but cancer that attacks women's breasts ?!? ...jeez! Who wouldn't want to fight that? http://thekaro.blogspot.com/2007/10/rays-of-hope.html 2. Also, from Singapore, my friend Little-K beckons for support to repeal a law over there that isn't exactly gay-friendly. http://repeal377a.com/?page_id=11 So if you agree that either of these causes are worth supporting, please click the links above and help them out.

Earlier today, my super-cool friend from back east informed me that she recently discovered a great life lesson: No matter how bad things are, at least you're not a freezing, three-legged chihuahua trapped on top of a tall garbage can. "Yo Quiero ... ah s#!%."

I am an artist, and I live on Maui . I love Maui . It’s the most beautiful place on Earth. (Only a few of the best spots in Australia even come close in my opinion.) However, for certain kinds of artists, Maui isn’t exactly the best place to be. Perhaps I’m missing something, but in my experiences so far, Maui is very a quirky little market for creative people. Sadly, this island tends to be a bit of a short-sighted environment where the great business mantra: “you get what you pay for” goes somewhat unheard. As such, many so-called “ creative professionals ” find themselves inadvertently creating and sustaining an underpaid market built upon questionable aesthetics and cultivated comfort zones based on the varying ignorances of their clientèle, as well as the desperation of their fellow creative people; making the term “ Maui professional” an almost complete oxymoron in creative circles. Take this recent ad on craigslist for example: It’s bad enough this kind of r

As many people know, I'm less than thrilled that my childhood friend Staff Sargent Thomas Sullivan has been sent back to Iraq. The poor guy got, not one, but TWO purple hearts last time he served over there, and now, in a display of infinite push-your-luck wisdom, the powers-that-be have sent him back for another round. Now folks, I'm no military expert, but doesn't getting wounded heroically in warfare twice warrant someone like Tommy doing something else... like maybe swapping places with one of those annoying Colonel's nephews who has a cushy recruiting job at some mall. I dunno, am I crazy for thinking that would be fair? (...Shut up, I know life isn't fair.) Well, fortunately, Tommy being Tommy, he's making the best of being sent back into the catastrafuck. (Thank you, Jon Stewart) Recently, on Myspace he posted a picture of his new spot for naps. So, after a hard day of fighting for... um... whatever the Hell our guys are still fighting for at this poin

The best combination of phrases you can ever hear on any day in the MLB post-season: "The Red Sox win" + "New York loses" Between that and a morning full of South Maui boogie-boarding with a couple of good people, today was a very good day. :)

Not that I'm the most avid blogger in the world, but in recent months, I have been growing increasingly unsatisfied with the way blogs on Myspace work. So, from now on, when I blog about stuff that I normally put into my personal blogs, I will be blogging here. Here I go again... BLOG BLOG BLOGGITY-BLOG! :P