alumni worked on new movie...

Hey everyone - I'm forwarding along a message from Stephen Wong (quite possibly one of the best ultimate frisbee-pick-up-players I knew... that boy could JUMP!), a GT Crew alumni who worked on the new animated movie: “Ice Age: The Meltdown” that opens today. Go check it out!

Hey All!
So, if you don’t know yet, “Ice Age: The Meltdown” opens in theaters this Friday (March 31st)! I spent about 6 months in New York at Fox’s Blue Sky Studios working on the film as a character animator, and worked with some of THE best animators in the world. Aside from being an incredible learning experience, I was able to work on about 20 shots that will be in the film, so I just wanted to encourage everyone to go out and see it this weekend if you can, it really is a sweet, fun, and hilarious movie, and I’m more than honored to have had a small part in it. I’d love to know what you think of the movie too (good or bad)!

If anyone is interested as to which shots I did, I’ll list a few to look out for (I’ll also note ones that might spoil story points underneath that just in case). You probably won’t remember them while watching the movie (you should be riveted with the story =) or afterwards, but they’re listed below anyways.

Also, unless the studio decided that my work just totally bites and removed all instances from the movie, I will hopefully be in the credits under “Additional Animation”. I’m literally the last animator listed =), and it’s a big list, so if you have to run outside and go to the bathroom and miss it, it’s okay, I understand…

So, if you’re interested, here are some shots to look out for (all the ones listed under SPOILER might contain some story notes, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read them until after you’ve seen the movie).

If you are seeing the movie this weekend, have fun! I really hope you enjoy it.
Stephen

[Opening Scene]
Elk slides down “toilet bowl” waterslide. Elk and Beaver go down the waterslide and Beaver is gored by the Elk. Beaver screams with pain.

[Scrat’s Bird’s Nest]
The first shot of Scrat (the squirrel rat chasing the acorn) running towards the bird’s nest, dodging falling ice chunks about to smash him to bits.

[Vulture Food! Musical number]
The very last shot in the song sequence with the entire flock of vultures (over 50) flying away

POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW
[Just Before Ellie’s Flashback to childhood]
Ellie looks around the willowtree forest and then realizes she recognizes this place from her childhood

[Minisloth Sequence]
Two shots, one where the minisloth girl gives Sid the “Fire King” crown; After the minisloths start dancing, they loft sid up into the air with sid looking around and smiling

[The Rock Teeter/Balance Sequence]
Three shots, one where Ellie tells Manny that she “Overreacted” while balancing on the teetering rocks; Two in a row where Manny grabs tight hold of Ellie and pulls her over to the other side of the rock to safety.

[During the Cave collapsing Sequence]
Ellie screams in midrun and slides to a halt with a big rock crashing down right in front of her.

[Right After the Cave collapses and Manny is swimming in the water]
Sid and the gang run to the edge of the rock and spot Manny swimming in the water.

[The sea monsters Attack]
Three shots in a row where Sid is swimming frantically away from Maelstrom (the big sea monster), climbs up onto the iceberg that Diego is frozen stiff on, and then tries to pull diego to get him to start moving.

[Animals stampeding towards big Arc/Boat at end of movie]
Animated a stampeding herd, while Manny is looking for Ellie in the crowd.

Hello from the GTCrew!

Dear Alumni,
I have heard great things about the alumni blogging that goes on, so Cassi was nice enough to let me in on the fun. I just thought I would write to let all of you know how the team is doing. We are working hard to gain our speed as we progress into Spring Break in PC. Both teams are looking strong, and the women look great in their new Resolute 8+.

This season we are smaller than usual with about 55 members on the team varsity and novice. We are working hard to come up with new recruiting techniques to really branch out and try to get more rowers out of high school and to get the studs and studettes out of the freshman dorms.

I have spent a lot of time working with Slim, and I have talked with the other coaches about creating a better model for the team which would involve more alumni support in certain respects (recruiting is one). We are currently working on creating an External Advisory Board for the team that would work to take some of the stress off the athlete so that we can put more time into training. I honestly believe this is the way to take GTCrew to the next level. We are close to the edge of greatness, but not quite as dominating as we could be.

So keep your eyes and ears open in the coming weeks about ideas. Feel free to email any of the officers with questions, suggestions, or you just want to talk to someone who is still getting it from Gatech. I will try to post on the blog to give updates and such so stay tuned!

-- Austin Nichols
President Georgia Tech Crew Team
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering Class 2006

Babies!

Ana Grace, daughter to Melissa (Deen) Hallow & Danny Hallow was born on Saturday March 11th at 7:05pm. The delivery went well and baby Ana is healthy and extremly cute. Both Mom and Dad seem to be doing ok but tired. They are schedule to come home from the hospital today (Monday). Danny updated their blog with links to pictures.

Rebecca Woo has also sent a link to her baby pictures!!

Crew News – March 2006

Well it’s been a while, now hasn’t it? But I guess it’s about that time, so here goes!

Tierson and Jessa are married and run Boutte Tree Service here in Atlanta. Look ‘em up if you need tree removal!

Laura Solomon (Sassaman) and husband Perry Solomon had a baby daughter, Gwyneth, just before Christmas. They are currently stationed in Virginia Beach.

Craig Armstrong and Alana Evans are currently renovating the house they just bought together here in the ATL. They’ve both gotten into road biking, something many of us ex-rowers seem to be fond of.

Bobby and Jill O’keefe had another baby, Sean in October.

Papa John got married to Maureen Glynn in November of 2005. They are living in Philadelphia. Last I heard, Cliffy was still there too – or doing something with Peruvian nationals. Alpacas?

Dr. Rebecca Woo and Dan Floyd had a baby boy, Miles. The three of them are living happily out in Houston, TX.

After one year in the finance world at GP, yours truly (Liz Hildick) has yet another new job. I’ll be a software trainer for Hyperion Solutions. Hooray for mixing finance with the geeky stuff!

Jessica and Matt Tebbe are back in DC. Matt is with Booz Allen and Jessica is very happy working for Gibson Guitars. Her new job has even taken her to China!

Other DC-ites: Jonathan Snow, Jacob Gelbaum and Julia Woodbury are all still living up there. Hmmmm…. DC has a large share of the GT-Crew Retirement Community up there.

Sarah Kimbrough (Tourtellot) married longtime BF Will and they are up in DC as well (and about to move to New York City… added by Cassi).

Guery Jones is working with Tierson as a lumberjack and took a chainsaw to the face his first week of work… gotta watch out for those chainsaw-wielding Guatemalans. He is fine, it was a minor scratch but he’s got a great scar from it. Currently he is interviewing for less labor and weapon intensive jobs.

Sara Willson has moved to Tennessee with long-time BF Jarrett Thacker. We’re hoping they return to the ATL soon!

Rhiannon Morgan is currently in Knoxville TN and is considering Law School.

Speaking of Law School, Erin Tucker is at Fordham University for Law School in NYC.

Mark Bearak is currently in grad school for Architecture at Cornell.

Sally Mattix (Griffin) has moved back to the ATL and is working for Bellsouth.

Audrey McLoghlin is still in L.A. running her successful boutique, UNA – www.una-la.com

Speaking of successful businesses, Anijka Stone is still selling the toffee she and her mom make – THAT STUFF IS SO GOOD! You can check it out at www.bellstonetoffee.com.

And speaking of not-so-successful businesses, I opened up MoxieBody (website coming) to cover all the groundwork expenses for setting myself up to be a personal trainer. I take the ACE certification exam on May 6.

Kelley Williamson got engaged to The Stellar Matt Conway just before Christmas. They’ll be getting married this fall in the ATL.

Cassi Niemann – ah, we all know what she is doing but I’ll post here anyhow!! She is currently applying to go to grad school for architecture while still working for Morton.

Dr. Tanya Civjan is working for Wiley and Sons Publishers up in New Jersey – she lives just across the river from NYC and loves both the new job and new location!

Natalie Woody (Horan) and husband Mike are expecting a baby this fall! They have decided to remain in San Diego for another 3 years.

Last I heard, Bito was living with his girlfriend out in Hawaii.

And that’s all I’ve got for now. Thanks to Cassi for reminding me to do another one of these. If you have info for future updates (or corrections to anything here), please email me at lizhildick@hotmail.com.

And check out liz’s blog at www.lizitup.blogspot.com

got something to add? leave a comment.

alumni representative

Hello all. My name is Nicole and I am the current alumni relations officer for GT Crew. The spring season is just getting under way with our first race on Saturday. We had a scrimmage with Clemson a few weeks back. The weather was foul but we still managed to get some good racing in. Erg sprints were also very successful. Also, we are fast approaching our spring break adventure. Through funding from SGA, we just purchased a Resolute 8 for the women's squad. Below is a racing schedule and i will do my best to keep you posted with results.
ciao-nicole sullivan

* March 11th: SERCS, Aiken, SC
* March 19th-24th: Spring Training, Panama City, FL
* March 25th: Lanier Sprints, Lake Lanier, GA
* April 1st: John Hunter Regatta, Oak Ridge, TN
* April 8th & 9th: Knecht Cup, Camden, NJ
* April 14th & 15th: SIRA, Oak Ridge, TN
* May 12th & 13th: Dad Vail Regatta, Philadelphia, PA
* June 1st-3rd: IRA, Camden, NJ

Nicole F. Sullivan
334898 Georgia Tech Station
Atlanta, GA 30332

news.

Well, we have yet another new blog from one of our alumni, except this one is for the newest member of the family - coming soon to a home near you! Little Baby Hallow - Ana - is set to make her appearance this week and she already has a blog called The Ana Adventure! So, go check it out and see who ends up winning the baby pool! Our thoughts are with you this week Melissa!

In other news, perhaps our fine alumni Liz will grace us with an alumni update as I know she herself has exciting news... so, Liz - get on it!

We also have a new alumni rep officer - Nicole - who should be introducing herself to us soon. In fact, we have all new officers across the board, including the new president, Austin. So, make yourself known, offer advice and make yourself available. Or just notice the change.

In addition, we may be calling on alumni for help for the 2007 Atlanta Erg Sprints, yes, we realize that is a ways away, but we want to make it better than ever next year, so if you're interested in helping out, please let us know!

One more thing - I believe this year marks our 20th anniversary as a club at Georgia Tech. Ideas have been thrown around for having some sort of celebration during homecoming week. I was thinking we could set up a tent on campus on the day of the game and tailgate... simple. Maybe someone will organize an ultimate frisbee game? Perhaps someone will host a party? Just throwing it out there... if you have ideas, leave a comment!

Happy warm days are coming!