I went to half priced books today because I was bored. I didnt have any intentions of getting anything, its just I enjoy looking at all the art books. So I walked in today and found a great book called Disney Animation The Illusion of Life. Its written by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston who were a part of "The Nine Old Men". Disney's Nine Old Men were the core animators at Walt Disney Productions who created some of Disney's most famous works, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs onward to The Rescuers.
I bought the book for $23.00, which is not bad considering its a 1981 first printing. They reprinted it again in 1995 but inverted the title, so it was well worth the money!
The two wrote this book in effort to pass on the techniques developed prior to the passing of Walt Disney to a younger generation of animators. It goes over the 12 basic principles of animation. It has a ton of drawings and model sheets in it. Talks about character develepment, story, sound, animating expressions and dialouge!! And to top it all of it has a total of 561 pages of AWESOME INFORMATION!!!. So today was a good day, I found a great book.... and now im blogging about it, which means I am a huge nerd! Bottom line is, if your into animation and you see this book anywhere, but it!
I got on chatroulette today. But instead of trying to talk to people i just put the camera on my hands drawing. This is the outcome. Just a sketch of batman. Watercolors are alot of fun, but it only looks good if you know what your doing... in this case, i dont!
I was down in Wharton for Easter weekend and stopped by my father’s house on Saturday. For one reason or another I had been thinking of my Grandpa lately and I asked if he could tell me what he knew of my grandfather’s time in the war. I only learned a little more than what I already knew, which is not much. Maybe my Grandpa didn’t give specifics and if he did I’m sure other relatives will know more, but this is what I got from my father. As far as timelines go, I only know when he was drafted.
Santiago Hinojosa Gomez was my grandfather’s name. He was drafted into World War II on September 22, 1942 at the age of 23. He was in the Rhineland Campaign, awarded The Purple Heart and The Silver Star.
Each time I hear the story it starts off freezing cold, snowing and somewhere in Germany. His company is close to around 300, and he carried a Browning Automatic Rifle (B.A.R.).
Specifications: Weight 7.25 kg (15.98 lb) (M1918) Rate of Fire: 300-450 or 500-650 rounds/min
The company was about to enter a clearing on a flat plane. There would be no place for shelter until after that clearing and it’s a risky crossing. Before marching out into the open a Soldier looks through his binoculars and says that he sees Germans on the other side, but the captain of the company says they are mistaken and its fellow American soldiers. The snow was picking up and it was getting hard to see but the soldier still insisted that Germans were ahead. He identified them to be Germans by their hats that they wore, but to no avail the Captain ensured them otherwise and commanded them to march across. They start marching in that direction and then all of a sudden gunfire came towards them. It was the Germans and now they were being ambushed!
The next part my grandpa says was hazy and like a dream. He remembers looking for the soldier that accompanied him that carried ammo. The guy was gone, he wasn’t sure if he had been blown up shot or was just in vicinity than what he was. He kept firing until he felt two bullets penetrate his right arm. I don’t know how long this standoff lasted but it got to a point to where my grandpa knew he was going to die. He recalls only wanting to smoke one last cigarette. He pulled out his matches and tried to light it but the pack was soaking wet and it just wouldn’t fire up. With nothing left and no ammo he began to whistle the tune Adios Mariquita Linda. Some German soldiers came up on him overpowered him and he was taken as a prisoner.
(listen to Adios Mariquita Linda
here are the lyrics in English)
Goodbye Mariquita Linda
I'm going because you no longer want As I love you. Goodbye chubby sweety I'm going to distant lands and never return. Goodbye life of my life the cause of my pain the love of my love the scent of my flowers I will leave forever. Adios Mariquita linda I'm going with the sad soul the anguish and pain. I'm leaving because thy scorn have ruthlessly hurt forever my poor heart. Goodbye my little white house the cradle of my love looking at you amid the flowers and sing my pain I give you my last goodbye.
He was put in a German concentration camp where he got lice and his arm became infected with gangrene. The Germans saw this and took him to get his arm removed. The operation took place on top of a pool table. Back in camp he became malnourished and endured the camp a total of four months. I’m not sure about how he was rescued, I plan on trying to get more information on the story. After his whole ordeal was done with he was flown back to the states where his mother was waiting for him. He said she passed right by him and didn’t even recognize him being short of one arm and malnourished. He shouted out to her and she turned to him and he said it’s me Santiago. Santiago Hinojosa Gomez? “Si mama”
When he went home he had to do something that his mother said he had to do if he came back from the war alive, which was crawl on his hands and knees to the church which was maybe around 150 yards from their house. He said that was the hardest thing he had to do, still learning how to do things with a missing arm.
I sometimes wonder how a man can go through something like this and have such a huge heart. He never complained not once about life. He was always smiling, and I never heard him yell or saw him get angry at anyone. This man will always be someone I look up to. He lived to be 88 years old. He showed us the meaning of happiness, courage, and most of all love. He has an incredible story which im working at getting all the details. There are times I see him in my dreams with both arms, but when it comes to shaking my hand he still uses his left :)
