Excelsior Eugene Oregon

Fresh from the farm

Many area restaurateurs pride themselves on using only fresh, organic ingredients obtained from local farms. Often called the farm-to-table movement, this eco-friendly trend allows customers to enjoy seasonally available produce while at the same time eliminating the middleman and preserving the planet.

It’s not unusual for local proprietors to grow some of their own produce, but at least one has taken the concept to the next level with his very own farm.

Maurizio Paparo, longtime owner and executive chef at Excelsior Inn and Ristorante in Eugene, has been harvesting crops on his land for the past 1½ years. He also raises chickens (70 to be exact) to provide a ready supply of fresh eggs.

“I have 18 acres in the Pleasant Hill area, which is where my house is,” Paparo says. “When the economy took a turn, I decided to keep my money close to home, so I started investing in farming for my restaurant.”

Paparo’s farm covers five acres of his property where he grows a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, berries and herbs.

“I’m very lucky to have land with southwestern exposure, good water and good drainage,” he says, explaining that the farm is designed to support Excelsior, as well as his two other food businesses, Ciao Pizza in Springfield and Brindiamo Catering in Eugene.

Born and raised in Italy and the youngest of nine children, Paparo (his father was a health department employee and his mother, a homemaker) notes that food has always been a big part of his life.

“Being from a large family, everyone gathered around the meals,” he says. “My mom was a great cook. When I was young, I learned how to make gnocchi (an Italian dumpling usually made with flour or potatoes) and I stirred the sauce and then I graduated to make the sauce.

The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation: An Interview with Larry ...

Larry Bafia and Webster Colcord worked together as animation partners at Will Vinton Studios in the late 1980s, when the Claymation technique had peaked in popularity. Since that time, they have both branched into other aspects of stop-motion, CG animation, visual effects, and education. I have enjoyed Webster’s work online and in films for many years, and recently have had the privilege to work with Larry at VanArts and our local Vancouver SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques) chapter. I’m glad to present their thoughts in this chapter as they talk about their respective careers and views on animation.

Larry’s website: http://whoscreative.com/larry_bafia

Webster’s website: http://webstercolcord.blogspot.com

KEN: How did each of your animation careers get started?

LARRY: The first studio I worked at straight out of school in Chicago was Crocus Productions in Evanston, Illinois, where we did some clay animation industrial videos. One was for dental hygiene, and another was about spaying your pets for the ASPCA. I also worked at Excelsior Studios, run by Gene Warren, which involved some time on Land of the Lost , for example, was shot in a fish tank with a high-speed Mitchell camera whirring away like crazy, and we injected milk into swirling water to create the cloudiness. Also, at Colossal Pictures, I assisted Gary Gutierrez with commercials for San Francisco radio stations, scenes for the Grateful Dead movie, and things like that. For the most part, I was just assisting rather than animating at Colossal, but overall I had several seconds of stop-motion experience under my belt before starting at Will Vinton Studios.