Resume and Portfolio

I am always on the lookout for graphics development opportunities. If you are seeking someone skilled in graphics modeling and rendering for your next animation or games project, be sure to take a look at my research, resume, and portfolio:
Martin's Resume.pdf
Martin's Portfolio.png

Digital Photography

Following my father's passion, I have a keen interest in photography, and tote my digital companion, a Sony Cybershot S75 (3.3 MP), almost wherever I go. My next investment will be in a digital SLR, and I enjoy perusing digital photography websites for their in-depth reviews of the latest cameras.

The Backyard Playground

Plenty of hiking, backcountry skiing, and climbing in the Rockies and Purcells. Sometimes the best things in life are free.

Beyond the Backyard...

I've heard many exciting stories of people's adventures in exploring the four corners of the world. These stories spur me take up some of my own traveling, not just to visit new places and plunge into foreign cultures, but also to see if the four corners of the world actually do exist. The fact that I haven't yet found a corner continues to reinforce my belief that the earth is round rather than flat. All in the name of science :)

The list of places I've been to remains relatively small - a sign that I've got a lot of exploring and adventuring ahead of me:

  • Canada - the BC west coast and mountain ranges, Rockies and prairies of Alberta, peaceful lake and river systems in central Saskatchewan, and stone architecture of Quebec City
  • United States - national monuments of the western states, SF and LA
  • Mexico - two week stay in touristy Puerto Vallarta
  • Germany - primarly Bavarian burgs, castles, and beer; also Expo 2000 in Hanover
  • Austria - Salzburg, Innsbruck, numerous mountain villages
  • Switzerland - land of chocolate, cheese, and bankers. Wonderful hikes in the Alps.
  • Luxembourg - My parents say I've been here; obviously I was too small to remember.
  • Liechtenstein - easy side trip (if you don't miss it) en route to Switzerland
  • Italy - great pizzas from the stone oven in Milano, majestic Dolomites, rolling hills and vinyards of Tuscany
  • Malaysia - from the coral reefs of the Perhentian Islands to the frigid summit winds of Mt. Kinabalu
  • Thailand - spicy food, chaotic traffic, memorable temples, towering limestone spikes of Krabi and Ko Phi Phi
  • Singapore - what a fine city-la?
  • China - okay, I've only seen Hong Kong, 99.9% of the nation remaining
  • South Korea - autumn colors of Seoraksan, caves and craters on Jeju island, colorful temples and palaces, and heapings of kimchi

...And Into Outer Space

As a kid I had a strong interest in astronomy. Perhaps it was just a convenient excuse to stay up late. Then again, perhaps it was also the genuine wonder of gazing out into space and back in time. Armed with binoculars, a refractor telescope, and a Newtonian reflector, I spent many hours in the backyard observing planets, asteroids, double stars, nebulae, comets, globular clusters, and galaxies.

Although I am spending less time under the night skies these days, don't be surprised to find my bedroom empty in the middle of the night when some celestial event is taking place. I would be remiss not to mention my friendship with Lucian Kemble, a mentor and guide in the ways of astronomy and life.

Picture note: I took this picture of the moon setting behind the ridge of Steamboat mountain using my Sony digital camera aimed through the eyepiece of a refracting telescope. Craters Copernicus and Plato are visible in the lower left and upper right. For those keen eyed observers who point out that Plato cannot possibly be positioned so close to the right edge of the moon, you are perfectly correct - the right "edge" is actually the limit of the field of view of the eyepiece.

My Software Empire

In my spare time I enjoy coding and tinkering with software, and sometimes these endeavours begin eating away at my non-spare time too. At least I've managed to turn out a few useful tools and tutorials, and I'm happy to share the fruits of my labour here! iPhoto Diet is my first small contribution to the world of freeware. It has clocked over 20000 downloads and has made its way into several issues of MacAddict and MacWorld (Australia & UK) magazines, among others - unfortunately no endorsements or contracts from Steve Jobs yet :-)

  • Free and Open Source Software: slim down your bloated iPhoto library folder, set up some X11 launchers, or pounce around snowy landscapes as a penguin
  • Emulation on Mac OS X: A list of my favorite, free emulators on OS X along with sets of instructions to get them running. Put some use back into those old Amiga Disks or that Windows 98 coaster.

Favorite Films

I am a bit of a film buff, and have seen a number of cinematic hits and misses over the years. Here's my list of all-time favorite films, the cream of the crop, in no particular order:

  • Contact (Jodie Foster): Brings the science vs. religion debate to the forefront with sensitivity and intelligence. Some people consider the ending anti-climatic, but I believe it is precisely the unresolved nature of this ending, and the questions it raises about faith, that elevate this film to greatness. Stellar acting by Jodie Foster - why she wasn't even nominated for Best Actress during the Oscars dumbfounds me. A true gem in science fiction!
  • The Shawshank Redemption (Tim Robbins): A film about the resilience of the human spirit in adverse conditions. The turning point is brilliantly constructed, and the film just keeps getting better through its lengthy (in this case, lengthy is good!) and beautifully filmed denoument.
  • Amadeus (F. Murray Abraham): This motion picture sets a new standard for biographical films. Love, jealousy, mystery, and captivating music rolled into one neat package. Contrary to the movie's title, this is really not so much a biography of Mozart as it is of his rival Salieri. While the factual details of the film may be questionable, as a drama, this movie shines!
  • The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Elijah Wood): Fantasy film-making on an epic scale - I'd expect no less for this epic literary trilogy!
  • Anne of Green Gables (Megan Follows): Proof that Canadian movie-making can pull off a masterpiece on a shoestring budget. A heartwarming slice of life shot against the stunning rural scenery of Prince Edward Island. Pity that it was shot directly to video (did I say shoestring budget?), rather than to film, which would have been well-deserved.
  • Le Fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tautou): This highly-stylized and imaginatively-shot movie has more textured characters and intriguing subplots than you could shake a stick at. The movie gives an honest, matter-of-fact view into the lives of Amelie and her neighbours as they strive for the perfect little world they see in their minds, only to be confronted by their various weaknesses and antagonistic situations. A joie-de-vivre story with edge!

Family and Friends

Following are links to socials and parties:

  • Blob and Shauna's wedding.
  • Graphics Lab party at Przemek's house.

Gunti Prinz and Marianne Messerli pose for an historic Banff Mountain Film Festival poster. An unofficial poster, I might add.

Trivia

Odds and ends that may be of interest:

  • The background texture is an actual photograph of sand on the beaches of the Perhentian Islands, Malaysia.
  • Origin of the family name Fuhrer: While the word Führer (note the umlaut, or dots, above the "u") in German stands for leader, my family name stems from remote farming communities in the Swiss Alps. Unless one of my distant ancestors was a very influential farmer, a more likely origin of Fuhrer stems from the word "die Furche", or furrow. Thus, the Fuhrers were likely the maker of furrows, ie. ploughers.

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