Just MOOP it!

www.mooptroop.com

Link to Mooptroop

Please visit our developing website at....

http://www.mooptroop.com

Driving in Mumbai

The chaos is the order. Right of way is a constant game of chicken and the bigger guy always wins.
It's like a video game, with equal potential to die.

Privthi Theater

We spent our holiday Tuesday doing a three year budget in the outdoor bamboo cafe attached to the Privthi Theater in Juhu beach. Thank you, Dave Donihue!

American Lunch

After two weeks of chapati, rice and super spice, we three North American's delighted in a spread of Western luxury items. Turkey Sandwiches, pickles and Pringles made up our lunch today.
Ganesh and Shamim wide-eyed, shrugged and smiled, recollecting later in the day, "American lunch!", as if it was a sight they will not soon forget.

Where the crazy bird sings..

There's a little garden here where a crazy bird sings. I like to walk, pace really and watch the sun set over the little smelly bog and listen to a loud 'Om' sound around 630 that sweeps over the area, calling people to evening prayer.
I wonder if what people say about India is true. What is becoming clear to me about my life...I like what I'm doing. I believe in it. If I step back and look at it it sounds and seems crazy and too big to actually ever happen, so I guess I'll just keep my head down.

I'm home alone right now. Rowan and Leah went to Hypercity, the giant Western supermarket. We're all sick of the food. I can't take the spice and ate thin white bread with butter, a banana and an orange with super spicey dhal and wierd macaroni noodles with green peppers that were so potent when Ganesh cooked them that everyone in the house was coughing. I went outside, where it wasnt' much better. They spray this horrendous mosquito smoke spray every night at 730.

Yesterday Josh sent me an NPR blog on the No pants day in the subway in 9 cities. I showed it to Shamim and Ganesh, the house help. Talk about lost in translation. I was laughing so hard. We're talking about people who avert their eyes if I have a tank top on.

I'm mentally exhausted from just the constant work we've been doing. Tired of thinking, strategizing, holding the vision, pushing it forward bit by bit, day by day. Trying to unwind, I listened to music for a while. I have a good book by Rohinton Mistry which I read for awhile. But, I don't want to do anything text based after these long days. After a good amount of ceiling staring, watching the clock tick and the ceiling fan spin, I decided, I wish I knew how to knit. Knitting would be good. Something more bodybased. Leah has a yoga DVD. Maybe we'll do that one of these nights or mornings.

I go in and out of hitting a wall of terror about what I am getting myself into here with the whole budget and 2 year plan. I miss my family and want to rent that little house I love for the summer and have sleep overs with all my nephews and neices. My eyes keep tearing up when I think of my family, of those gorgeous little souls, sparkling Daphne and Mindi, so magic and pure, discovering everything. My precious gentle Dada sitting watching birds at the feeder through white fields of Wisconsin winter.

Indian names, new friends

11 days in...
11 new colleagues...

The Indian names are so beautiful.

Ashutosh
Prakash
Arun
Vivek
Mohan
Aseem
Ashwini
Aditi
Bhuvanesh
Kishore
Shamim

Mumbai Domestic and Professional Peeks

So, we're here, heading into week two of MOOPTROOP development. It's a lot of work, as expected, but feels totally different than normal work, since it's our baby and we're being treated royally. We're based out of the colorful conference room in the seventh floor Animation Dimensions Studio. Some of the lovely people check in on us regularly bringing water and chai. Not too shabby. The guest house is a typical and very clean apartment with a cook named Ganesh from Nepal who pays special attention to detail, like tissue coasters under our teacups and laying out the twice daily cucumber, carrot, beet, cabbage salads in mandala like patterns. My only complaints are being cooped up (no walking or exercise on the dirt roads alone for me...they won't allow it!) and the mosquito factor. Our U.S. repelant's got nothing on these guys. I got a new cast for my broken radius (snowboarding with the nephews two weeks ago) and can type a little better, so all is well.

MOOPing in Mumbai

Well, after 3 years of pitching MOOPTROOP, Rowan and I have been green-lit and are in production in India! We are putting the MOOPTROOP series in the form of a webisode as part of a website for Tweens also incorporating Web 2.0 and other features of global cultural exchange and media literacy. Thanks to all of you who helped us get launched, both on this project and from the U.S. Here is a peek into the Animation Dimensions studio. More soon...