COVID and the Brain

Posted on by Thor

I know I have written about this before but there are new studies that confirm the damage that even a mild COVID infection can cause to the brain.

A new study published in Nature Microbiology found that a COVID infection is associated with short and long term neurological complications.

Cultures were collected and compared, from people without COVID and postmortem samples from people with COVID. COVID is known to cause multi organ damage.

In another study brain autopsies were done on 44 unvaccinated individuals who died from COVID-19. The goal was to map the cell structure damage. The virus was found to replicate in respiratory and multiple non-respiratory organs including the brain. The virus was found to be replicating in the brain as much as 230 days after infection. In some patients the virus can cause systemic infection and persist in the body for months.

COVID can cause multi organ failure and shock. Some who survive, suffer from Long COVID for months or years.

COVID can cause severe neurological symptoms. COVID causes neurons in the brain to fuse. Every neuron that fused with any of the cells that hold nerve cells in place, presented a complete loss in neuronal activity. This fusion is a progressive event. Symptoms can consist of headache, fever, confusion, epileptic seizures, and a loss of taste or smell. Long-term and chronic neurological manifestations derived from viral neuroinfections are finally gaining attention five years into the pandemic. However this is an election year so there will be little talk about COVID. Hospitalizations are down to about 6000 COVID patients per week, which is the lowest it has been for years. However I am waiting for the shoe to drop on another wave.

The illustration consists of MRI scans of my brain. I am fascinated at how it interconnects with the eyes and nose. If you ever wonder why I mask indoors, it is because I value this squishy little organ that throws so many random thoughts around each day. When neurons fire, I can see things vividly. Feeling the need to fit in with the crowd is not my strong suit. Crowded restaurants and social events no longer hold any appeal. Traveling to film festivals, promoting COVID Dystopia are my one exception, but I remain masked from start to finish. Perhaps in my health’s favor, many festivals are not willing to screen the film.

COVID Dystopia: Yea, I should Go

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This was probably the most complex scene to animate in COVID Dystopia. I learned so much about rubber hose animation and overlapping action by doing this shot.

I am sure most people have blocked the fact that on New Year’s Eve in 2021, Times Square had no live spectators. They filled the square with Wacky Wavy Balloon Arm Men so the shots on TV would appear less deserted and more active. This was American ingenuity at work.

Right now the COVID hospitalization have dropped down to a rather high base line. England is seeing a rise in cases and as always I am sure America will follow. Now is a good time to get those medical appointments set up since this is as low as it will go before another spike in cases. We are coming off of the JN1 spike and new variants are jockeying for dominance for the next spike. The Omicron spike was huge,  so each new wave seems small in comparison. People cave been conditioned to accept mass infection.

I have stopped drinking milk because bird flu (h5N1) has infected so many dairy cow herds in America. 33 herds have tested positive so far. The cows were likely infected from chickens. Cow feed is actually laced with chicken droppings.

One in five samples of commercially available milk in stores has been found to test positive for h5N1. The hope is that pasteurization will kill the active virus, but pasteurization temperatures are not standardized. Until there is more testing, and no active virus is found in any samples, I remain cautious.

This morning I tried Almond milk on my cereal and it was actually really good. I am also thinking about making breakfast smoothies in the morning, again with almond milk and fruit like blueberries and bananas. I have made some eggs over the last week but I am making sure I cook them extra well so that they are not runny. I have one small packet of vegan cheese left over and I am thinking of switching over to vegan cheese to see how that tastes.

The primary concern should probably not be the consumption of the virus. I am sure it is airborne and that will be the primary way it spreads. Early reports are that human to human transmission has not yet happened. Then again that is what was being reported in China at the start of the COVID outbreak. Only two proteins are keeping human to human transmission from happening. I have learned to respect viruses. They are tenacious and will find a way to spread. Humans are the best mammalian host to spread the virus world wide. Since h5N1 has a 52% mortality rate, this would be a horrible outbreak if it happens.

Three Point Launch Demo

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This was a demo for one of my Elite Animation Academy online students.We had already covered one pint and two point perspective and this was a lesson in three point perspective.

I always try and convince my students to think a step beyond the basic lesson plan to create something unexpected. In this case the student had chosen to draw a tall skyscraper and I offered the possibility that it could be something other than a building.

Some students are bored by the mechanical nature of graphing out perspective, but I love teaching it and I use the premise in every sketch I do. Some students think it involves too much science and not enough fancy, so I throw some fancy into the mix as I teach it.

Right now I am waiting on about 20 different film festivals to accept or reject COVID Dystopia. I tend to post scenes from the film on this site when the film is about to be shown at a festival and when I suspect judges might check out the site for more information about the film. Since

I am in a holding pattern, I figured I would post more variety. I have started sketching rehearsals and shows again but I tech until 8pm many nights and have to schedule around my teaching schedule. I might get out to about 3 theater sketch opportunists a week. I have been sketching theaters where my film has been shown but that number is rather small.

This week I am pressing hard to refine next season’s Shakespeare posters but after that I am a tumbleweed looking for my next series of sketches to become obsessed about.

A trip to NYC several months ago got me excited about continuing my series of sketches of the 50 oldest churches in the city. I am looking at rents in Brooklyn and there are a few where the rent is less than I am paying here in Orlando. At this point, it doesn’t matter where I live and set up my studio. I really need to think about buying a place however since rent is just wasted money.

Tea Time

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Is there such a thing as an animated horror movie? Tea Time was done as a demo with one of my online art students. She had a definite story she wanted to tell about one sister poisoning her sibling. I did a series of thumbnail sketches to explore how the scene might be staged.

If this was to be pushed towards a finished illustration I would need to research the furniture the dresses, and the type of room that would best set the mood.

I didn’t push this further since my goal was to get my student’s work to shine. I offered multiple suggestions and helped push the student work along.

Students who have definite ideas they would like to pursue are the most fun to work with. Today is Saturday and I will be working six hours with 4 students. Tow of them are working on story ideas they are developing. I will be doing thumbnails like this to help inspire them to consider all the possibilities in staging a shot. The goal isn’t for them to copy what I do, but for them to come up with an idea that works best for them.

Tonight after the classes, I might go to Winter Park’s Knowles Memorial Chapel where Dvořák’s Stabat Mater is being performed. I would sketch the chapel and see if the music is audible as I sketch. I also need to re-paint the background in a Shakespeare Theater poster. I suspect I will be painting the poster until I collapse and go to bed.

Cleveland Airport

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When departing the Cleveland International Film Festival I flew out of the Cleveland Airport. Waiting to get on the plane back to Orlando, I sat away from the crush of people standing in line waiting for boarding to be announced. I managed to get a sketch of the only other person I saw in the airport wearing an n-95 mask.

He was oriental and tapping away on his laptop computer. He didn’t wear the mask the whole time. I think his mask policy was to only wear the mask if someone sat right next to him. The rest of the time he wore the mask as a chin strap. I actually sketched him in  chinstrap mode but erased it when he wore the mask correctly.

COVID hospitalization continues to drop and Florida has minimal cases for the first time since the pandemic began. I continue to mask indoors but take it off when outside. I always have a kn-95 in my breast pocket the way that British dandies used to wear folded hankies in their breast pockets.

I haven’t heard of a new variant to take JN-1’s place so hopefully America’s insane COVID infection rates will drop to a manageable baseline for the first time. However, I am not holding my breath. Well, actually I do for 5 seconds as I pass anyone walking outside.

COVID Dystopia: Golden Toilet

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This shot from COVID Dystopia has the former president tapping his iPhone while sitting on his golden toilet. The only animation is his finger poking the screen.

The camera pans down to show his pants wrapped around his ankles. The depth map for this scene works surprisingly well the sink in particular appears quite dimensional.

For a film made by traditional means using paintings and hand drawn animation the added layer of depth maps helps push each scene to a new level. It is a low tech Analog film with the added benefit of depth maps for a Digital dimensional World.

Now that production on the film is over. I am considering the idea of starting a second animated film. This one would have a more linear story line. I want to read a few books on story structure before I start.

Last night I typed out the events that would transpire. I need to edit that more today to fill in holes that I discovered. I probably will not write much about this project until I am 1000% committed. For whatever reason all the elements of this story surfaced when I had to move my studio.

COVID Dystopia: Breached the grave

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I had to animate this scene twice because I first animated the scene a resolution that was too low. The scene is working fine now. The film was rejected by another film festival yesterday. This has to be the most hated film festival jurors see. I feel it is my responsibility however to keep putting it out there to be seen. I feel I have to keep reminding audiences that the airborne virus has not magically disappeared just because a politician lifted the National Emergency. COVID is a seasonal virus the seasons are Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. The virus is not getting milder. The virus is not a cold. The virus is not a flu. The virus wreaks havoc on the immune system making people more prone to there infections. The virus fuses brain neurons and damages blood vessels and the heart. The virus is airborne traveling long distanced in the air like smoke or perfume. We always has simple measures to stop the spread such as properly worn N-95 masks, HEPA air filters and proper ventilation. The vaccines to not stop infections from happening. They do help prevent hospitalizations and immediate death. Each repeat infection makes it probably that the person will develop long COVID and become disabled.

I only have a few more scenes that need touch ups in this film. Yesterday I wanted to refine the Zeus scene but I was unable to find the After Effects file. I will have to search for the scene again today. I will be teaching virtual art classes for six hours and then sketching a production of Who is a Afraid of Virginia Wolf. Hopefully I will find the file I am looking for late tonight.

I am searching for late night sketching opportunities. Many of my virtual classes end at 8pm so sketching rehearsals is often out of the question. If anyone has suggestions on late night events that are ripe for sketching, let me know. I usually have topics ready to pursue and sketch, but right now, I am searching for what is next.

Whisky Duo at Eden Bar

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I decided to cover the Florida Film Festival as an outsider. My film, COVID Dystopia was rejected by the festival. My thought is that the Florida politics shown in the film probably disqualified it. It is a bit too hard edged for the quaint hometown FFF.

I have sketched the festival many times in the past and I know you can rub shoulders with some pretty incredibly film makers just by hanging out at the Eden bar.

I saw more than my share of films at the Cleveland Film Festival which was a truly incredible experience. So I don’t feel the need to review films at the Florida Film Festival. Instead my thought is to cover the Florida Film Festival ancillary activities.

As I walked up to the Enzian Theater I could hear live music. Whisky Duo was performing outside on the patio in front of the Eden Bar. The bar was packed as were most of the outside tables. The front two tables closest to the performers were however empty. Chairs had been borrowed to seat more people at other tables so I set out my art stool. I masked up since it was a dense crowd.

I was enjoying the set until they broke into playing The Bear Necessities, from Disney’s The Jungle Book. Ugh, Disney’s sweaty paw seems to try and permeate all local arts and culture. I liked that yellow blooms had fallen from a tree onto the table and I liked that the Live Music banner reflected the dense Florida foliage that surrounds the Enzian. The performance was free, you can’t beat that.

On the night I did this sketch, International Animated Shorts were to be shown at 9:15pm. The laughing crowd around me were probably waiting for that show to begin.I figured that a crowd interested in seeing International Animated Shorts might have a familiar face but I didn’t recognize anyone. This weekend I will be buying a ticket to see the shorts for myself. I am curious what types of animated films were selected.

The musician announced that they were performing their last song. I panicked and sketched faster. I got some semblance of line work done of the performers before the end of the song. I spent the rest of the time working on the background and adding color. The lights made the painting a challenge since they kept changing color. I settled on the bright purple lights.

COVID Dystopia: Flaming Baby Close Up

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This close up of the flaming baby has a depth map which makes the face turn with the camera move. The hand drawn flames and breath are the animated elements. With so many people expressing an interest in seeing a longer slower version of the film, I am in a pickle. Part of me wants to storyboard a more linear story structure that is easier for an audience to digest. After the screening of COVID Dystopia I could feel the audiences stunned silence before the applause. Perhaps they were thinking, “is that it?” I also don’t give the audience a chance to identify with any single character which they could root for.

Having spent a two solid days watching short films, I have a billion ideas about what could make COVID Dystopia even better. Whoever, Though I am still making tweaks to animation that needs improvement, I will not start an overly ambitious longer form of the short. I have to live with how it has turned out. The Seattle Film Festival turned down the film as soon as I got back from Cleveland. COVID Dystopia had only a 17% acceptance rate. Film Freeway has claimed that is a good acceptance rate but that is hard to believe.

I will keep promoting the film at festivals because I think people need a swift slap in the face to remind them that the pandemic is not over. There might not be another huge spike like the Omicron wave, but people are dying from COVID at the same rate as automobile accident deaths. The vaccines are helping prevent death and hospitalizations, but vaccines don’t prevent infection.  Most of the population has embraced mass infection. The virus decimates the immune system. Meanwhile Long COVID keeps disabling people. Every repeat infection increases the chance of people developing Long COVID.

Cleveland International Film Festival

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COVID Dystopia was shown at the Cleveland International Film Festival. I got up at 4am to get ready for the flight to Cleveland. I made an egg sandwich before I left which became important since I forgot to eat for the rest of the day. The Frontier flight was on time and I got to Cleveland around 10am. I couldn’t check into my air b&B until 4-m so the Lyft driver took me directly to the theater district.

It was cold and raining, so when I got out of the Lyft, I dashed directly into the CSU Idea Center right next to the theater. On the 6th floor there were a series of panel discussions on the making of films. The panel discussions were, “The Story: the journey from page to screen”, and “The Business: follow the money.”

The panels were filmed, so I found a spot where I could sketch the cameras and the audience. Since my film literally had no budget, just my time, blood sweat and tears, I was certainly curious about the money side of making films. It was inspiring to hear all the filmmakers trials and tribulations on their film making journey. For each it was clearly a passion rather than a way to make a quick buck.

After the panel discussions I made my way to the theaters. Dear god these Cleveland theaters are opulent and gorgeous. I asked several red coated ushers where I could sign in as a filmmaker. The guest services area is where I signed in. I was given a lanyard and a swag bag. I was the told I could attend any screening I liked. I wasn’t expecting that. I thought I would have to pay $18 for each screening.

I then wandered slack jawed through the theater lobbies that were all interconnected. In the Connor Palace I thought I might just sketch the lobby but the ushers directed me towards some doors.  A screening had just started. I had no idea what film was showing, but I went inside. The introductory trailer had just started. The immense theater was dark. I stumbled half way up an aisle until I had cleared the opulent balcony.

The film was titled “Minted” bout the rise and fall of the NFT art market. I am so glad I saw the film. The film showcased how NFT helped artists make a mint during the rise in the market. They showed Bepples sitting with his family as his NFT sold at Christie’s for 65 million dollars. Other artist success stories showed them fining freedom of expression and financial independence. It all seemed to good to be true. And it was.

Another Artist found her digital creation were being stolen and sold by others as NFTs. Artists were making good money because they made royalties any time their work was sold. Those royalties disappeared once the bubble burst. Artists can no longer make a living off of just selling NFTs. Many were commercial artists before the NFT craze but they had to return to commercial work after the crash.

Speculators got into the market just to make a quick buck. Most of the art being sold was put crap but the craze allowed crap to be worth millions. The NFT craze coincided with the height of the COVID pandemic. In the documentary artists were wearing masks when they were struggling to make a living. But when their work began selling for thousands of dollars the mask came off. If my work ever starts selling for thousands, I might consider taking my mask off as well. Then I could afford the inevitable health care costs not covered by insurance.