Broken Saints Blog-a-Plenty

When thinking about

your shelter and survival

‘work’ takes a backseat

Animation review hub DVD Toons (you might remember them from their glowingly kind review last summer) sprung a surprise mail on me today with some wicked news – Broken Saints has ceremoniously squeaked onto their Ten Best DVDs of 2005, sharing 10th place with Stone and Parker’s TEAM AMERICA: World Police. Their reasoning?

“One of the best things about reviewing DVDs is that sometimes we come across something new that unexpectedly blows us away. In 2005 the release that most surprised us was Broken Saints. Broken Saints was a release that pushed the boundaries of animation, but this time through its imagery. This unconventional “animated comic book with sound” originated on the Internet and there found a way to tell an epic story that was both smart and unique. The creators also managed to load the DVD with special features and worthwhile extras to entertain fans for hours. Enjoy this one folks. It was one of the few releases last year to get both a 10 for Film and Special Features.” (Click here for the other standouts)

Not the worst of homecoming gifts, especially when combined with Rue-Morgue’s Most Innovative Concept of 2005 award from their latest ish’. Yeesh…I’m beginning to blush over here!!! 🙂

Making some new friends

when you share a smile

Click for a few snaps of paradise…

An 8-day escape

Seemed like a lifetime

…and on yankee soil, no less 😛

Expect a ‘real’ update in a few days, once I’ve got my land legs and am safely tucked beneath blankets of grey Vancouver sky.

Much love to all (with some pics to prove it, coming soon!)

B

Broken Saints – old school!

(posted by tobias)
… well, OK, not twenty, five. But hey – that’s worth something, isn’t it? Warrants some kind of celebration at least? Five years ago today, Broken Saints was launched. We thought at best we might get a few thousand viewers, a smattering of interest or attention in Canada perhaps, and hopefully end up with a kind of showcase for the talents of Brooke, Andrew, Ian and myself, that we could maybe use as a springboard to do something bigger someday.

Unbelievably, five years later, the journey is not over, and the next leg promises to be as wacky and unpredictable as every other. However, one thing we can say for sure: it is still, without question, the fabulous response and support from our amazing little global community of fans which has changed our lives the most, and which we hold closest to our hearts as we consider the fruits and labours of the last five years.

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again, but insofar as I am worthy to say it on behalf of the creators of Broken Saints:

THANK YOU. You’re amazing. We couldn’t have done it, and beyond a shadow of a doubt wouldn’t have finished it or be in a position to be saying this now, without you. BS is in very large measure yours; we hope you are as proud of it as we are.

I wonder what the next five years will bring?

p.s. I’m going to do a little contest to mark the occasion, I’ll post later with details. Stay tuned! – t

The Seventh Shore is Calling…

I am going on a journey.

The first time I did this, I was sheltered and nurtered by an easy communal life and warm tribal love in Fiji. It changed me – most say for the better – and the spirit of this experience is still being felt today. That’s why you can read this. That’s why you’re here. It was the alpha for Broken Saints. An integral part of the ‘why’.

And now I’m leaving it. Only for a little while, all things considered. A mere blip of chronology. The tiniest tick. But I AM leaving it. Behind. For this is the first time in over five years that I don’t want thoughts of work and art and technology swimming in my skull. The first time in half a decade that I am choosing to unplug – body, mind, and soul.

I am going to trod on unseen shores. I am going to bathe in uncharted waters. I am going to drink of the sky and the sea and the sun of a new world. And I am going to reflect on who am I, and what I am ready to give…again. Something strange is on the horizon. Something powerful is calling. And something beautiful is stirring inside.

I am going on a journey…

…to set it free.

Make your church pals all giddy!

His Thousand Eyes burn

and they have our attention

so wear with caution

7 days of this makes one weak!

(posted by tobias)
Urgh. This is probably not as interesting as jetsetting around and hanging out with lovely forum ladies like Brooke, but sometimes you gotta tell it like it is, and this is how it is: we are being painted. Top picture: the entire contents of my erstwhile studio, stacked chaotically in the space beneath our loft bed. The studio room is completely empty, which makes for a pretty boring picture, so I left it out. Bottom pic: the rest of my poor sad apartment, also stacked and under wraps. It’s kind of like camping, except less fun and more uncomfortable, and with poorer air quality.

The upshot: the water damage from upstairs neighbors, which caused all this mess, miraculously did virtually no damage to anything in the studio (and left my precious grand piano untouched as well!). So overall I guess we’re still in the black. Even though the paint is as white as snow.