Someone recently pointed out to me that I seem to be obsessed with birds. They seem to find their way into most of my animations at some point. There are lots of birds around Tahoe and they are all crazy-in-love at the moment! I was finishing up some yardwork yesterday and heard this lovely voice from the tip top of the pine tree in our yard. It was a large starling and looked ready to impress the first lady that flew by. At first his warbling just sounded like beautiful tones all mixed up, but as I started listening more carefully, I began to pick things out. Starlings imitate other birds, and I heard him talking to the blackbirds, then the seagulls followed by ducks, a goose and a hawk cry (both of which sounded like they were off in the distance). I was impressed… but then he REALLY busted out the repertoire! He yipped like the coyotes across the meadow (you can often hear them at night around here and sometimes even see them during the day) and croaked like the frogs in the marsh, and I swear I heard a little girl’s delighted scream (the kind we make when we go down a really steep hill on a sled). It was astounding – a Tahoe Keys Concert from a one-bird band.

I get paid to do this?

I've actually gotten a bit of work recently, so the fun experiments have slowed down a bit, but the creative animation continues. This is for a local group of filmmakers, artists, musicians and creative people who have there little "Pet Projekts". Click on the picture to see the latest.