But because of a series of adventures, happy accidents and connections made along the way, and the fact that I hadn’t left any entanglements back in Sydney to draw me back, I wound up getting work in various countries, which enabled me to extend my trip, and here I am, 22 years later, still abroad, meaning that I have now lived exactly half of my life away from my native land.

Funnily enough, I have yet to do a few of the things I had planned when I left home all those years ago. My original plan was to visit Japan and then go to China and ride the Trans-Siberian express into Europe, find some work in London (as most Australians do in their youth) and then head home. But although I got as far as Japan and China, I never rode the Trans-Siberian.

Along the way my plans changed, and I ended up staying in Asia for 3 straight years, using the money made from working in various animation studios throughout Asia to finance wanderings around the region. After that, I came to the USA to visit friends who I had met in Asia, and then I travelled around both North and South America.

I worked in France for a year and did some travelling in Europe, but by that stage my wandering feet were getting tired and I wanted to stay in one place for a while. Thankfully I was given a job-offer to move to San Francisco and I have been living in this great city pretty much ever since.

Now I am feeling somewhat restless again… For sometime now I have been thinking that it might be time for some kind of a change, although I don’t know what it should be. Maybe I should actually complete my original travel plan by riding the Trans-Siberian express from Europe into Asia and then back home to Australia…

I have been on a scanning and archiving kick lately, organising old photos and drawings. The recent round of activity was inspired when I received some boxes I had sent myself when I was in Australia last Christmas.

I had helped my father move into a new house and along the way I was obliged to sort through several boxes of my old junk that I had left at his house all these many years that I have lived abroad. I threw a lot of it away but mailed the rest to myself here in San Francisco. It was sent SEA MAIL so it took quite a while to arrive.

The box contains some stuff sent home to Australia during my travelling years plus some of my childhood drawings and other things that I may post here later.

Here is another picture from my spare time project about a dog from outer space. This image is from one of the later books, where he returns in a fancy spaceship to visit the friends he made on Earth in his first adventure when he crash landed. You can see him here cloaking his space ship, which is parked above the rooftop of an apartment building that has a view very much like the view from the roof of the building where I live right now.

Here is another bit of professional work done on a project that went into hibernation. It is an exploration for an easy-to-draw futuristic flight suit. Although the colours I had in mind were black, grey and purple, I hoped that it might look a bit skeletal when worn.

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, by all means hurry out and see it soon. I think that it is one of the best animated movies in years. It is gorgeous to look at and beautifully animated with some of the best action sequences I’ve seen in any movie lately; fast paced, kinetic and cutty without ever being confusing… The story is funny without being flippant or snide, or drenched in pop-culture wise-ass-ery. Plus, it really delivers some pure, sweet moments that aren’t saccharine, which is one of the hardest things to do in any movie.

This is definitely one of the most ambitious pictures that Pixar has ever made. Seeing Pixar’s version of sci-fi is a lot of fun (I have always had a soft spot for cartoon science fiction, such as DUCK DODGERS). A lot of people are going to fall in love with the main character of this film. Thanks to some great design and some superb animation, that rusty robot is a very, very appealing little guy on screen. I worked on WALL-E a few years ago, doing a little work in the art department, followed by a short stint in the story team. And yet, it has been so long since I had seen any of the story reels that there had been quite a few changes to the story, so I had some surprises in watching the film. Being able to watch a movie that you’ve worked on with more-or-less fresh eyes is a treat.

The big surprise for me was seeing PRESTO, the new Pixar short directed by Doug Sweetland. I had heard nothing at all about what this project was about, although I knew that it was being made, and that some great talents (such as Doug Sweetland, Teddy Newton and the mighty Ted Mathot) were working on it. Because I knew nothing at all about it, it was a real joy to watch. It has a great premise that is beautifully designed, full of clever ideas, involving some really funny, broad physical comedy… all brought to life with whip-crack animation timing and great posing. It is probably my favourite Pixar short, so far. I wont say anything more, lest I spoil the fun for the rest of you.