Welcome to Adrian Crook
An IP I co-developed when I was at Decode Entertainment in Toronto has now gone into production. We originally developed and pitched it to be a videogame and TV series, and now it looks like at least the TV series has been funded. Slated to air on YTV's prime-time animated comedy lineup in 2007, Urban Vermin is a 26-episode CGI-animated series that follows the adventures of two gangs of animals - one good, one bad - in a turf war for city garbages, dumpsters, and restaurant back alleys. Coincidentally, one of Lara's friends, Joe Motiki, was cast to be the voice of "Madman Munson" - a skunk known for manic behaviour and a nose for trouble.
And in other news...
* I found out via Google Alerts that I have a credit
on the Internet Movie Database now.
* A personal photo
of mine was used as the cover of issue #12 of a WWE magazine called The
Suplex.
* The Vancouver newspaper, The Westender, recently featured our
condo in its "My Digs" section.
Our baby boy, Oliver Aaron Crook, has arrived! He was born Thursday, July 6 at 9:14pm at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. Because he was three weeks premature, he was a bit on the light side (5lbs 14oz), but he's long and lean and will likely be drafted first or second overall by the Canucks in 2024. But seriously, he could grow up to be so many things... from a defenseman to a right winger... or even a goalie. Hopefully not a goalie. Anyway, Lara and I are elated, but also overtired... definitely enjoying the first couple weeks of Oliver's life. He's a wonderful little boy who, of course, we believe is the cutest, best-behaved child ever. I'm on paternity leave from work, so I'll be home with Lara and Oliver until September.
In sadder news, my Grandma passed away in May after a terrible accident. All the family converged from as far away as Ghana, Africa. We had a bit of time with her to see her off, but I'll always remember her not for those final days, but for the incredibly vibrant life she led as the matriarch of the Roberts family. We all loved her dearly and will never be able to fill the hole her passing left in our hearts and our family. Lara and I made this video that we played after her memorial.
At the same time my Grandma was in the hospital, I was supposed to be in Toronto for the Canadian New Media Awards, for which I was a finalist in the Producer of the Year category. I cancelled the trip due to my Grandma's failing health. As luck would have it, I won the award and my friend Justin Dowdeswell accepted it on my behalf, enduring a roasting by the celebrity host as he walked up to the stage to accept it.
In other random media news, in May I appeared on Shaw's Urban Rush live talk show for the second time in my career. I was on to discuss my then-nomination for the CNMA award, videogames in general, myself, etc. Lara came with me and it made for a nice extended lunch hour. In more media news, I wrote a small article for Xbox 360 World magazine about Rockstar's Table Tennis game (with a little bit of a personal slant). Additionally, an article on me winning the Producer of the Year award appeared in the newspaper of my old hometown, The Tri-City News in Port Moody. This one was mostly for my mom. :) And lastly, I did a small interview for the Financial Post Business Magazine. It appeared in their Wild City issue, guest edited by Tony Hawk. Here is the cover of the magazine, and here is my article.
The two bedroom condo we purchased in Coal Harbour had its renovations completed one day before Oliver was born. Our contractor spent three months gutting and rebuilding the interior of the condo and did a fantastic job. Among the improvements: a much larger and modern kitchen, wrap-around corian countertops, new stainless steel appliances, natural slate and dark hardwood floors, marble fireplace with flush-mounted TV and built-in shelving, recessed lighting and thick baseboards throughout, under counter washer/dryer, and a generally more open "feel" to the unit. Of course we also painted the whole thing and bought some furniture to match the new decor. Check out the before and after photos in our Properties gallery.
That's it for now.
First things first: Lara and I are pregnant! Well, it's mostly her, but you know what I mean. We're due July 28th. Check out the obligatory ultrasound photo gallery.
In light of our impending parenthood, we figured we'd better get a larger place. So we've bought our second property (the first one being the Toronto house), a 900 sqft condo 1 block away from Stanley Park, in Coal Harbour. It's two bedrooms and 1 very swank bathroom (heated floors!) that Lara will put her own touch on in April/May after her return from Toronto, when we'll have some renovations done before moving in June 1. Before photos of the property can be found in the gallery - you'll have to wait until June for the after photos.
My project with Relic, The Outfit for Xbox 360, is finally done! It hits store shelves worldwide on March 14th and the multiplayer demo can be downloaded via Xbox Live now (over 170,000 people have already downloaded it!). After two intense years of work, I have three weeks of vacation to recuperate. The Outfit is THQ's first Xbox 360 project and Relic's first console title and first non-RTS title. Plenty of other firsts as well... we're pretty stoked.
I was in Las Vegas (photos here) February 6-8 for The Outfit's multiplayer launch event. Over 30 journalists along with myself and three colleagues shot machine guns and handguns and did some indoor skydiving before I gave a presentation and a bunch of interviews about the game back at the presidential suite of the Four Seasons at Mandalay Bay. We stayed at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, a place so posh that my hotel room was about twice the size of our current apartment - with it's own fax machine/copier as well!
In other travel news, last week I was in Los Angeles to appear live on G4TV's "Attack of the Show". It was a three-minute spot on The Outfit. In the green room I bumped into the guys from Threadless.com, who were also on the show, and did a quick little video interview with them using my new High Definition video camera, the Sony HDR-HC1. I'll work on getting that video posted as soon as I figure out how to edit it down from its massive 1080i format.
And finally, the Canucks made all the right moves on trade deadline day, while the Leafs continue to flounder. Ah... I feel a bout of "I told you so" coming on, Daryl... ;)