Donut Thursday

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Some people think Fridays are the best day of the work week. At CloudKid we say, “No way bro, Thursdays are the best.” Why? A little thing we invented called Donut Thursday. Yes, Donut Thursday is as simple and magical as it sounds—every Thursday, we have a sampling from one of Boston’s best donut bakeries such as Olihn’s, Linda’s, Union Square, and of course Dunkies. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “hey, aren’t you the guys that produce Fizzy’s Lunch Lab?”. While that is true, even Fizzy can’t stand between us and our donuts. Sorry.

Modern science has proven that there’s nothing quite as yummy, artery clogging and morale-boosting as a donut, so we have fully embraced our new tradition with open arms and mouths.

Donut Thursday is here to stay.

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It’s That Time of Year Again…

To celebrate the wonder that is New England fall properly, last week we went on our 3rd Annual Apple Picking Palooza to Honeypot Hill. As in years past, we had a wonderful time picking apples, feeding goats, and breathing in the crisp fall air. Oh, and eating cinnamon sugar covered apple cider doughnuts from the farm store wasn’t too bad either!

We’re big believers in getting out of the office from time to time for a quick refresh, and this is definitely one of our favorite ways to do so. We’re already excited for next year’s outing, but in the meantime, check out the photos from this year’s trip!

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Island Adventures

As we’ve mentioned in the past, we think it’s super important to get out of the office every now and then for a day of fresh air and fun. So, we packed our cooler (seriously, we filled every cubic inch with Capri Suns, water and snacks) and ferried over to George’s Island. On the island, we played a bunch of games (lawn jarts, ladder golf and Cards Against Humanity to name a few), jammed on ukeleles and explored the simultaneously creepy and awesome civil-war era Fort Warren. We also made as many references to Lost, the island, hatches, and the likes as we possibly could. Check out the photos from the outing here. We highly recommend a trip to George’s Island if you’re in the area!

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Movie Outing

Right around this time last year, CloudKid embarked on its first annual movie outing. With 2012’s summer blockbusters rolling into theaters, we decided it was time for another trip to the cinema. Since we’re big fans of themes (and aliens), we landed on another alien-driven flick this year: Prometheus. Some CloudKids are super excited for the outing this afternoon, and others are just scared silly. Either way, we’re all just hoping the movie is half as good as this homespun trailer.

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Sup Dawg

Guess what? Dave turned into a dog. You need proof?

  • Exhibit A: The Dinghy and the lemon seltzer water.
  • Exhibit B: Matt’s bemused face, undoubtedly getting a kick out of something Dave the Dog just said.
  • Exhibit C: Kim’s hand on the right, positioned as if to say “Oh God, please stop!” which is how she usually reacts to Dave the Human’s awkward jokes.

…But for real, this is Maggie, our temporary CloudKid Canine in Residence (CCR?). She visited recently when her owner was out of town and brought tons of love to the office. There’s nothing like an adorable pup to boost morale!

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CloudKid: A Year in Review 2011

Last January, CloudKid recapped our first full year with a dandy list of highlights. And while 2010 was a killer year, 2011 was doubly amazing. Some highlights include:

  • Finished Fizzy’s Lunch Lab season 2 production
  • Developed & started production on a project with Scholastic Education
  • Nominated for our 2nd Emmy for Fizzy’s Lunch Lab
  • Nominated for our 3rd Emmy for the Pictureka show opener
  • Green-lit for a 3rd season of Fizzy’s Lunch Lab
  • Produced a website and games for the upcoming show, Peg+Cat
  • Hired our first Harvard graduate
  • Moved into a new headquarters in Boston, MA
  • Launched our PBS /US Dept. of Ed. transmedia project, Escape
  • Held our first CloudKid open house
  • Awarded 2nd year PBS /US Dept. of Ed. transmedia grant
  • Landed our first gig with Sesame Workshop
  • Revamped the Lunch Lab website
  • Started production on our 1st original iPad app property
  • The CloudKid team grew to twelve full-timers

2011 was filled with hard work and a lot of fun, but next year is going to be even better. We have big things planned for 2012, and we’re not going to let the Mayans stand in our way.

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Mingle Jingle 2011

Last week, CloudKid hung up our Wacom pens for an evening to celebrate the holidays with our first annual Mingle Jingle yankee swap and holiday party.

The evening was filled with formal attire, delicious Thai food, more Christmas cookies than a grandmother could bake, and memorable yankee swap gifts. Some of the gift highlights included: an Axe Body Spray collection, a Reaching Claw, and a tub of Vaseline (accompanied by a can of clams).

A good time was had by all, and we can’t wait until Mingle Jingle 2012. Wishing everyone a happy holiday and New Year!

Check out the photos on our Facebook Page.

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Halloween Spooktacular

Last Tuesday, the CloudKid team got into the Halloween spirit for our 1st Annual CloudKid Spooktacular. For inspiration, we checked out some extreme pumpkin carvings over our pizza dinner.  Then, after some homemade treats were consumed, we plugged in our power-tools, popped in Killer Clowns from Outer Space, and got to carving!

Check out the photos on our Facebook page to see the final results!  Hope you enjoy, and Happy Halloween to all!

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Apple Picking-Palooza!

Last week, CloudKid team celebrated autumn by embarking on our Second Annual CloudKid Apple Picking-Palooza.  We put down our Wacom pens, zipped up our hoodies, and trundled on over to Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow, Massachusetts for a fine New England afternoon in the sun.  While picking fresh apples, drinking hot cider, and petting goats is pretty darn fun, we’d be lying if we didn’t say the best part was eating the warm apple cider donuts (just don’t tell Professor Fizzy on us).  Yum!  Happy fall, everyone.

Check out the photos on our Facebook page!

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TGIF

Since the dawn of man, Friday has been revered and celebrated as the best day of the week.  Fossilized remains of party cups have been found all over the globe, and though Wikipedia will insist otherwise, Loverboy’s Working for the Weekend is actually a cover of an ancient Aboriginal chant that dates back thousands of years.

In keeping with this ancient tradition, we like to make Fridays a little special here at CloudKid.  Each week, everyone at the studio gathers together to eat lunch, share what we’ve been working on, and discuss new projects that are floating on the horizon.  The coveted MVP Award is given out to the deserving CloudKid of the week, and we usually end things by watching a little entertainment.  Sometimes a theme is suggested: present the worst piece of artwork you’ve ever created; show us an animation or video that particularly inspired you this week … you get the idea.

Here’s a little taste of what we did last Friday.  To celebrate our Escape from GreasyWorld game — what else?  An ice cream sundae party!

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