I'm pleased to announce that I won the DateCheck $1,000 Dream Date video contest! I have to thank everybody who watched my little one-minute video and voted for it. I only won this contest because of the massive support from friends, and friends of friends. Unfortunately, I did not win the "Balsamic Blowout" video contest, as the sponsors' judges preferred a clever, high-quality rap video instead. So I didn't score that trip to Italy, but it was still fun to make my little cartoon, and the winning video was a worthy competitor. In the end, I'd say that any one of about four videos could have won this contest. None of us was better or worse than the other three, only different; like a director choosing between talented actors during the casting process, the judges simply had to decide which approach to go with, and hip hop beat animation.
Speaking of actors and European holidays, you might wonder by looking at this photo if I went globetrotting with Claustrophobia star Mary Lynn Rajskub, but in fact I randomly bumped into her at the Los Angeles airport when my wife Miki and I were embarking on our vacation to Spain, a day after my birthday. Mary Lynn was on her way to New York to promote the finale of her popular TV show 24. I must say, though she now has considerably more fame and fortune than she had when we worked together way back in 2002 (could it really be eight years now?), she hasn't forgotten her old director, and was very warm and friendly. It's good to know that Hollywood success doesn't change everybody.