Favorite Distractions - Installment #2: Foamy the Squirrel

I first found Jonathan Ian Mathers' "Foamy" and all his squirrelly wrath back in 2004 while I was attending the Art Institute of New York. I was a college student so it didn't take me long to see that Foamy was truly wise beyond his years and his species. So, when my English professor thought it would be a good idea to have the entire class stand up and creatively present the essays they wrote about procrastination, I decided that the very first Foamy cartoon that I had ever seen would make a nice prelude. That cartoon was ... "5 More Minutes." It was pure GENIUS! The video got everyone engaged, laughing and in turn, helped me to relax. I could have said practically anything at that point because I was obviously cool and funny if I was watching these kinds of videos. Needless to say, I killed it.

Now, quite some time has passed since that class and where I am today. Granted, I would check in on Foamy and his human, Germaine from time to time but eventually, fell off until more recently. Things have indeed changed. Still, I kept in touch just enough to see the transitions happening and was all too delighted to find a summary of all I had seen (and missed) over the years. For those of you into dark, cynical, yet funny animations, please proceed to illwillpress.com to check out Jonathan Ian Mathers' creations. Please be warned ... it is not for children. Actually, if you don't know what Foamy's all about, first have a look at what you're in store for:

[chuckle] ... oooh Foamy, love that voice, it's one of my favorite distractions!

Favorite Distractions - Installment #1: Simon's Cat

These days, I find it very hard to get any work done because I do practically all of my work on the computer and I'm always online. So as I "work" I know that hiding behind my photoshop window is my browser set up with at least 5 tabs for gmail, OOPSmail, facebook (of course), youtube and 1bigoops.com (I leave it open and refresh it every so often just to make sure it's still there).

Recently, I was forwarded a link to a fantastic animated series called, "Simon's Cat." Can I tell you that after the first video, I was sucked in for a good 20 minutes just watching this animated feline discovering the world as only a cat can. Everything it does is steeped in reality, highlighting the smallest, silliest moments that truly do happen (to cats and their humans) in a no frills kind of way.

I guess it should come as no surprise seeing how the creator, Simon Tofield, has 4 cats. If that doesn't say cat lover, get this; the animations are all hand drawn from frame to frame. In keeping with standard fps (frames per second) settings, that can land Tofield with anywhere from 12 to 25 drawings for a single second of video. Now that's love and dedication right there. Relatable, cute and clever, "Simon's Cat" is one of my favorite distractions.

This was the first video I ever saw from the series. Check out the "Simon's Cat" YouTube channel here.