Wonkey

Yeah things are looking a little wonkey right now... @ least this'll give me an opportunity work on some stuff...re-skin update coming soon.

Must be Ramadan...

It may seem a little strange that a white christian male from the midwest would post something like this but let me explain...

Applegeeks is a webcomic that I follow very closely. For those who don't know, it's author, Hawk, is Muslim. Now for the past three years he has marked the beginning of the month of Ramadan with the appearance of a snarky squirrel that hoards food and taunts him during the day. I mean it's a great idea. Translating a cultural event into a character that I think everyone can understand and enjoy, yet is still respectful of the culture and event.

So hats off to Mohammad Haque and everyone else involved with Applegeeks for bringing some welcome multi-culturalism to the geek world.

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Things my look a little wierd on Friday...version 3 is comming soon!

Vertigo

All I've go to say... this movie was made WHEN? 1958?

First, The Matrix totally ripped opening scene from Vertigo at some points shot for shot, and the soundtrack note for note. I'm not complaining just an observation.

Second, the camerawork and lighting were amazing! Way to tell the silent story.

Third, Great visual effects I still think they hold there own even in tha age of CGI.

Fourth, Graphic Elements!!! How on earth did they do that with film!?

Fifth, A plot with more decent plot twists than I've seen in any modern film.

Sixth, Jimmy Stewart in a half likeable / half uber creepy role. Nice to see him in something other than "It's a Wonderful Life".

This is truely a landmark movie. Kinda like "The Matrix" of it's day. I will be watching it again. I'd say it breaks into my top 20 favorite movies. However, as a sit down and watch movie, North by Northwest still beats it out.

Combustion.. a fresh way of thinking...

WARNING: This is a video geek post... Read @ your own risk!
Every once in a while a piece of software comes around that forces me to rethink the way I do video. The last time this happened was when I was first introduced to Avid NLEs. I had been working with Apple Final Cut, but the depth and precision of Avid completely changed the way I worked in both environments. But that was merely the NLE (non-linear editor). The last tool used to put a project together.
For the past two years I've been trying to achieve a level of mastery with AfterEffects (Adobe's compositer software). I liked the precision of the thing, however as my projects got more complicated AE started to show some weakness. Like all things I overlooked these and created work-arounds.
Then I heard about a piece of software called Autodesk Combustion. At first I wrote it off simply because it wasn't AfterEffects. However, my boss would keep on bringing it up. So last weekend out of sheer curiosity I downloaded the demo and started working with it a bit...
It was a steep learning curve to begin with. In AfterEffects the timeline is the centerpiece. and the clips and effects are added to that. In Combustion the clips and effects are the centerpiece and the timeline sort of builds itself. This opens up a whole new level of creativity. Not to mention the that when you use it on a dual monitor system, it gives you two independent playback screens with a total of 8 source/effect windows. It also has the nifty ability to edit alphas channels in real time, and while we are speaking on the topic of alphas, Diamond Keyer is nothing short of amazing!
The node based composting system is taking a little getting used to. But as I learn more about it the more powerful it gets. It's already surpassed AE in flexibility, but there it still one thing I'm not quite sold on.... the way it handles the timelines. Sure it's uber cool that you can edit any timeline from any connected footage or composite, but I have yet to see the kind of precision I'm used to in AE... It would also help if I could have a larger timeline window. But no program is perfect and I'd like to learn more about this sick awesome program.

Tuesday "Here we go again"

I've never been a fan of the Tuesday. It's usually a dull day. The most boring of the week as far as I'm concerned. I could bore you all with obscure metaphors for what Tuesday is to me, but it can be summed up in two words.
Life continues to be a ride. Recently I've been riding a little higher than usual. Sure, there are a number of "Isn't it ironic? Doncha think?" situations right now. BTW, it's been how many years and I still love that song. I need to start drawing again...

Oh yeah, the movie selection is a little tougher this week. The list of movies I want to see is getting shorter. I got my crazy weird movie fix last week. I wish there were more Charlie Kaufman films. Thanks to Zaar I was thinking "Wall Street". For the Anime fix there is always FF: Advent Children. Then there is the classic film list....that's it! the movie for this week is Hitchcock's "Vertigo". That'll work.

Take care ya'll!

Hey, in speaking of movies....
Check this out. Apparently Baz Luhrmann is back!!!!

The 100th post

Yeah it' s no real big deal, but I've reached post #100. I never thought I'd make it here. But it has come and to my surprise this site is still going strong. The past 100 posts have seen alot happen in my little life. From last december when I was still figureing out how to make it with 2 car payments, to January and my first birthday party in years, to February and it's share of drama, to March and tax fest, to April and julie's wedding, to May and moving day, to June and settleing in and new traditions, to July and outrageous good times, to August and re-evaluation, to September and it's learning expereinces.

Here's to another 100 posts between the monitors.

Oh yeah, Country music update... new favorite artists... Montgomery Gentry! ( have yet to hear a song from them I don't like)

the 99th post

The last tape to roll for the week...

I don't get it...
There is alot on my mind right now. Unforutnately it's stuff that I don't quite feel like posting here right now. Too bad really, but it's more personal stuff that needs to be brought up to those invovlved. Don't worry it's nothing bad, just the aforementioned confusion in post # 95.

Oh yeah, I've also added We Feel Fine to the link list. This is a great site to check out. Another wonderful time burner. It basically searches the various blog services for the words "I feel" or other phrases like it. then looks for the mentioned feeling. Then it presents this information in 7 formats. My favorite is mummers. You can also isolate feeling, age, gender, location, and weather. It's crazy fun.

Hey! I forgot to mention. . . NEW CHRIS THILE ALBUM!!! Oddly titled "How To Grow a Woman From The Ground" This is a decent album. It's what you'd get if you were to stick Not All Who Wonder... and Deceiver in a blender with some great American roots music. This guy could single handedly bring bluegrass to a new generation. If you really liked the O' Brother Where Art Thou Soundtrack this my be worth a listen.

The order of things...

What a lame title. It's doesn't even have anything to do with what I have to say today.

I love this time of year! Unfortunately it has a side effect. Yes, allergies, but also everything feels like school. Just right now I was looking at the clock on my computer. When I had the thought. almost out, just 40 minutes. Now, this goes all the way back to high school. When the day would end @ 3:45pm. Something about the way the sun comes through the windows at just the right angle. I don't know. Feeling the sudden urge to hang on the classroom door frame, one of those little joys I miss.
I often write off High School as a dark period. But there were a lot of bright spots. Outdoor art classes, literature classes, one and a half period lunches for both junior and senior years, and photography in a real darkroom. Those were the highlights. I still dream about those years. Though they mostly have to do with being late to class or forgetting my schedule to the point of forgetting about a class for an entire semester (oddly enough this one reoccurs, and is one of the more realistic ones.)
Wow! that was 6 years ago. I don't know if it feels like a short time or a long time but it feels like it was a different universe. Was that me? Did I really experience that? Those are the kind of questions I ask when I look back.

random thought....

Did I ever mention how much I absolutely love megatokyo. Serioulsy! I wish you all had the time to go through it all, but given the fact that it's been updated an avarage of three times a week for nearly 6 years, I don't exactly see that happening.

Movie for tonight is selected. After watching trailers... EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED BEATS ALL! I can taste the sesame chicken already :P I may even buy this one unseen.

Unexpected healing.

Most of the time I tend to think of myself as more or less emotionally invincible. So imagine my surprise when out of nowhere I am contacted by and apologized to by someone who I hadn't heard from for a long time. The thing is that there was a small healing in it. Like when something hurts for so long that you forget about it. Then it just feels weird when the pain begins to go away. It a strange feeling. I'm humbled.

take care ya'll

engh!

It's a sound it's an attitude.

Just got done with a video shoot early. I'm very happy with the results. Good color, good contrast, all with mixed lighting conditions. I'm proud of this one!

As for the engh part. Confusion... more on that later...if at all.

This is the video that me and my friend JAson have been working on for the last week. It's a little rougher then I'd like, just keep in mind we were using iMovie. In other words...
-No log and capture style bin
-no film roll tool
-no more than 1 video track
-no more than 2 stereo audio tracks
-no slugs
-and a whole lot of frustration...

but it got done...check it out!

WARNING:This thing does have some laguage and a whole lot of violent content... IT'S BOONDOCK SAINTS PEOPLE!

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

take care ya'll

Creeping up on post 100!!!

After this there are only 8 to go before I hit the 100 mark.

In the mean time in speaking of the things I'm absolutely passionate about. Take a moment to discuss the latest out of Hollywood. It's a little thing known as Next-Gen DVD. You know, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. My best advice at this point is to ignore these formats. They may look cool, they may have alot of interesting features, I'd love to do work on them, but after going into thier specs all I can see is force-fed Digital Rights Management. If the DVD format was more secure I'm sure we wouldn't be seeing the the Next-gen formats. And what about HDTV? I'll let you in on a little secret... it's all hype. Again the stench of overbearing DRM is in the air.
In fact, I have a prediction. In about 2-3 years we will see the phasing out of all analog connections on media devices (After all, Analog TV will be phased out in April 2009.) Thus locking down all forms of recording to only those that can be controlled. Do I think this is bad or even evil? Not really, everyone has the right to earn money for their work, but what I don't like is the manipulation that's going on. Why can the people involved just admit that they want to secure their property, instead of the "this is the "in-thing" so you have to buy it" argument.

end rant

Chinese Food and another movie... Inside Man...

This was a pretty cool film, not quite as "twisty" as i expeceted it to be. A good thing overall. Good acting, some GREAT actors. Clive Owen, Denzel Washington, Christopher Plummer, Jodie Foster, and William Dafoe, WOW! It was a quality "hiest/caper" style film. It had it's share of flim cliches but they worked well. Cool film expereince, but it dosn't make it to my faves.

As for the other stuff.
Work has been a ride, there has been alot of change in the past two weeks and ahead in the next. I'm prepared for it, but I'm still a little nervous. Don't worry it's all good stuff, but it'll be hard to get used to. Change is good :) I went to Bally this morning... it felt good, but my knee didn't care for it that much...I'm going back though. I miss it.

As for the rest of my life... it can be sumed up in two words... Hedgehog's Delemma (Any Evangelion fans out there? I wanna watch those again...)

Hey! I'm posting on the MAC!!!!!

I can post on Nemu now!!! This is just cool!
So, ho have I been feeling this week? A little less depressed, so that's good. I've got some interesting stuff on my plate in my personal life for a change. I just need to apply some wisdom to them. I've been reading alot more, so that's good, and my tiny library is expanding. That's what I get for only buying books I'll read. Life's been good to me. for the most part, I'm still feeling a little angsty artist thing though. I need to kill that.

Ben

So I think it's time for a slow down...

The tone of my last few posts recently have been very political. So, I think it's time for a different direction for a while. Like getting back to my regular blogs...

Unique beverage of the month.... Strongbow Dry Cider...
Okay so I was inspired to try a cider by a Gaelic Storm song that shall remain nameless, those who know, know. It was quite tastey more like a wine than I had expected. Deffinately worth another try in the future.

Movie and Chinese Food... Solaris
This was more of an impulse rental more than anything. I liked it, it had the whole "walk the farret" thing going on with it... I liked that. Decent plot twist. Based on a book by an author I've been meaning to read more of, though his stuff isn't easy to find. The story deals with the nature of reality with interesting interpaly with the nature of alien life. yummy!
I need to clarify one thing. The issue with movies not ending. There is a difference between a non-ending for a sequel and a non-ending with a point. Solaris is the good kind of non-ending (the one with a point). I also think the the Matrix Revolutions has an ending of this kind too as long as they don't mess it up with another sequel.

Who really wants to own the media?

I have not seen The Path to 9/11. I have much more important things to do that sit and watch some made for TV Drama. However the contreversy brings an interesting point to light... Where are the Pro-Bush types asking for edits of the Bush failures in the time running up to 9/11? Why is is it the Clinton types who make all the noise? Why is it that the first ammendment is reserved only for the dissenters? I'm all for dissent, I like the idea that the minority can have a say in our society. However, I believe those like myself who belive that we are doing the right thing should also have an eqaul say! We should not have to be editied! We don't edit Michael Moore! I may oppose reckless thoughtless anti-Bush statements, I may boycott those who speak them but I will never endorse the removal of an alternate point of view in any media. Consiqunces are not censorship. Censorship is the witholding of information. As I've said before the freedom of speech does not guarantee the freedom from consiquence. All parties are guilty let's not think that one political power is above another in this respect. The question is how do the parties respond to this consiquence.

News of the day.

Wow! two good speeches from Bush today!! Talk about cool! It was a good day to be a conservative. A little uplifting for a change. I'm tired of being considered an idiot for supporting our defence and the people of Iraq. I'm tired of beeing looked down upon for thinking that the people of Iraq deserve better than Saddam and terrorists. I'm really tired of the Arab world being depicted a people who don't desire the freedom that all humans crave, who are content under an oppressive dictators or clarics. Today was a good day :)

And kudos to Bush for removing more key Leftist arguments.

Oh wow!

Great music day here...

THE NEW JARS OF CLAY ALBUM IS OUT TODAY!!!!
I love it! I might even go so far to say it's better than the first. Simply amazing!

THE NEW BT ALBUM IS OUT TOO!!!!
I'll be buying the CD on this one so I'll have to review it later. But the samples sound great. It's deffinately more in line with his older stuff like Ima.

Later tonight I'll also be positng my thoughts on The Wise Woman by George McDonald. Think of it as The Prince and the Pauper with the plot depth of Till We Have Faces. It's hard to beleive this story was written almost 130 years ago. All I'll say for now is Its message hit me hard.