come and get your cootie shots

I've found that one of Kyle and I's greatest strengths is the ability to improv. The video I just uploaded is something I thought of before but never fully drew out. After 2 other ideas for today's update fell through, I decided to go out on a limb and start this project. The Circle Circle Dot Dot Diaries. We'll see how it turns out...

So it's the time for people to be heading home and visiting their folks just for the holidays. Nice. I'd totally be in the Christmas spirit if I wasn't working 60+ hours a week, also the exclusion of snow on the ground really doesn't do much to spread the holiday cheer. I haven't had a Christmas without snow and it's weird to think that alot of my friends are spending their vacation in sunny places. Sometimes I wish I could join them if I didn't think Hoth was the ultimate in December getaways.

What's everyone wishing for for Christmas? I'm wishing for time. I want more time to spend with friends, more time to talk to people I've grown apart from, and more time to travel and see what else is out there. Hopefully soon the IT guys will be heading out to some diverse areas to make some comedy happen, lets cross our fingers... I hear a trip to Chicago is in order soon.

Ever been jealous of LeVar Burton? Us, too...

My video submission for the contest mentioned below...

Being on tour puts quite a strain on what I can carry around the country with me, which can present quite a challenge when making puppet videos. When filming with puppets, it is standard practice for the puppeteers to view their work using live feed on television monitors to show them what the camera sees, but living out of a suitcase, it is impossible to travel with such equipment. We are also poor.

Recently an opportunity presented itself to win a pair of Myvu personal media viewers (or to put it bluntly, video glasses)... and I did! This new (and in any other circumstance, expensive) tool will soon prove invaluable in helping us create better quality puppet videos - and look cool, too!

In addition to more puppet adventures, in the dawn of 2010 you can also look forward to seeing mimes, nazis, singing along with us about food, and more potentially hazardous and precarious social situations.

Meanwhile, celebrate and enjoy whichever holiday you prefer and keep checking back for more fun!

Serendipitous Media Exposure!

A few weeks ago I took Yancy to the National Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City. While unsafely filming inbetween lanes of traffic, our attention was suddenly drawn toward a frantic woman beckoning us to finish crossing the street for an interview. Not one to pass up an unbelievably well-timed opportunity (it was November 10 - the day Sesame Street turned 40), I traversed the remaining lanes and safely arrived on the sidewalk. Within moments I was given a microphone to wear and the camera was focusing on my cloth-covered hand!

We spoke for a few minutes about what I do for a living and what Sesame Street means to me, and as I settled into this impromptu interview I realized how crazy lucky the entire situation seemed. After a mere few minutes the interview was over and we parted ways... Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

Yinzer Quikkies - it's a wrap!

If you're reading this I'm back from Pittsburgh shooting a series of short sketches and I made it out of there in one piece. I'm not sure if you're aware, but after both Pittsburgh football teams lose in the same weekend the city deteriorates into a wasteland of sadness and depression.

I'm being serious.

Though I wasn't able to get footage of everything I would've liked, I'm really happy with the stuff we were able to capture. Even though I'm sure my cast mates and I offended several members of the late-night study kids at the Cathedral of Learning, happiness was had by all. Now it is just a matter of assembling all of the raw footage into 2-3 sketches and probably a TON of outtakes and behind the scenes segments.

Look for the sketches to be published online sometime after X-mas but before the new year. I'll leave you with the keywords: Nazi, evil genius, blow up the moon, and POV.

~ Aaron J.

I got hit by a car

I'm not sure how I can further capitalize on the image of me getting hit by a car. This isn't the first time it has happened either. I believe this is the 3rd one.

So this is the Facebook Droid. I like the idea of him and while this vid is short and sweet, we definitely have more footage. The problem is the wind and quality of our cam, etc. Hopefully if our videos take off we can afford better equipment? Please help us sell out. We're all about selling out for money.

This weekend is my vacation! I'm driving down to Pittsburgh, PA to see friends and film 3 improv sketches at different Pittsburgh locations. We're calling them the "Yinzer Quikkies." Hopefully everything goes for broke down there. I'm lucky enough to film with some friends from Point Park University and the Univ. of Pittsburgh so nothing can go wrong right? Even when we're filming in the Cathedral of Learning with nazi costumes...right? That's right: Nazis and the Cathedral of Learning. That's what Imaginary Trends is all about folks.

There's also a Jonathan Coulton concert going on in Southside. If someone shouts "Jonathan Coulton" from across the room then I automatically sprint over mouth agape waiting for more info. I'm lucky enough to see one of my idols in concert and well...those 2-3 hours alone could be my only vacation for the next 6 months and I'd be happy.

Expect Kyle to be uploading more videos of Yancy in action and next week I'm prepping a review of the new movie "Avatar" by James Cameron. Yep...just you wait.

If you're at the Jonathan Coulton concert this saturday in Pitt, come up and say hi, I'm going by myself...

Quick Rough Update... (insert your own innuendos here)

Sometimes updating technology isn't fun... I purchased an HD camera the other day and spent the entire day on the phone with all sorts of technical support. In lieu of something pretty, Sam and I just wanted to let you see some of what is currently in development on our end right now.

Check out some demos and rough cuts from our upcoming album "The Menu" on Sam's youtube channel.

I've also been backloading a bunch of the Yancy videos to the Imaginary Trends youtube channel, so you can get caught up on almost a year of random adventures. This video also shows a bit of what the next puppet will look like. Using my hands as his hands, I plan on getting into a lot more trouble and aim to make it quite unlike the cutesy and lovable Yancy.

Keep it classy and I'll check in on you all soon!

~K