MORE CHANGES!?

Yea I've decided to change my e-mail account. There are alot of reasons for this, mostly this site and effective networking. I no longer need .mac's features. I never realised how involved this process is! Considering I've only done this once before. It's even further conmplicated by e-bill pay and e-commerce. I'll officialy be launching the new address and AIM accounts on October 18th. So stay tuned for that. It will be g-mail

in speaking of google...

So is Google scarring anyone yet? What's up with the youTube deal? I don't really get it, and I work in video. What about copyright? There are plenty of conflict point between the two libraries. Most regarding the fact that Google has a pay service that hold content that is free for the most part out of youTube. Which brings up another question that's been rolling around in my little head.... can copyright be used as a back door for censorship?

Now, being the self proclaimed white-protestant-conservative-Midwestern-male there are some who would think that I'd be all for censorship. After all, "we need to protect our sacred leader from all forms of dissent" Bull5h17! For the millionth time. Everyone should have the right to say what they want. They just have to be willing to accept the consequences. Censorship is not being disagreed with, or the people acting on that disagreement. If people act in an illegal way then it is up to our court system to deal with . Censorship IS a power move. In government it's the removal of life, liberty, or property in response to ideas it finds inappropriate, without due process of law. If it is done within due process it's immediately under the scrutiny of the first amendment.

Here's a question though. If I'm leaking state secrets in an attempt to expose corruption, what takes the higher priority? This is something that has traditionally been taken on by the press. However, if the so-called corruption is merely a convieninet re-assembling of facts. Then what is it? I wish we could trust the press, I really do. But they always seem hell-bent on some agenda. Whether or not I agree with the agenda or not (An example of this is my firm dislike of Bill O'Reily)... It's wrong. My ideal news source would just be a comprehensive ticker of complete facts about what's going on in the world. But that's not going to happen. I thought google news was a good source, but there have been a number of cases recently that stories have been buried. weird huh?

Organic reveals and such...

Okay I've really got some cool visual effects I've been kicking around. Mostly the simple till you think about it kind. It's been exciting days... except for the undeniable fact that my car "Kitsune" battery ain't holding a charge. I'm not too happy about this, considering it means forking over even more money into a car I can't wait to get rid of. So, I biked to work today. yeah, with construction as it is there is no direct route to my house anymore. That means either taking 70th which sucks or taking State to Hawley which sucks too. So the thrills @ work have been balancing the pain in the ass with the car.

see ya'll later,

I'm back... I dont think I've ever built an effect this distracting... I've been working on my daily work, but I can't seem to tear myself away from working on "Organic Reveal". So what is it? Watch the video for Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and take a look at the growing ink sploch thing. That's the kinda thing I'm working on :) It's too spiffy.

MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY!!!

Okay so this post has little to do with monday, other than the fact it was written on a monday. Anyway, so here I am on lunch break eating my soup about to go on a few rants. BUT FIRST, a moment of self reflection.

I love the stressful moments. Sure I may complain about them in public, but deep down inside nothig gets me going like a short deadline on an impossible project. On to the rants...

NASCAR...
Okay so I'm a litte new to all this stuff, and though I try to proove some knowledge, I'm always proven wrong. But despite that the end of sunday's race was one of the most interesting I've see..yeah yeah I know that's not saying much. But either way, I've got to give credit to Dale Jr. for keeping his composure in front of the camera... something that couldn't be said for some of the drivers. That alone earns him a place among my faves.

WORLD EVENTS...
So North Korea went and did it. Just in time for Shinzo Abe...interesting how THIS will all play out. As I've said before I'd rather have Japan do the dirty work if it comes that. I just don't trust China. I do feel bad for the people of North Korea for what they are about to go through whether it's diplomatic or military action.

THE GREEN BAY PACKERS...
Favre's beginning to look a lot like Majkowski....

Work stuff...
AGH!!!! BRAND SPANKIN' NEW CONCEPTS TO LEARN!!!!! I LOVE THIS JOB!!!!!

guns and stuff

this was my weapon of choice for the afternoon (.40 H&K USP)

Well yesterday the parents came down...mostly for my sister's baby shower. However Curtis, my dad, and I went out shooting. It was a little pricey, but a good time nontheless. Not thought or complaints for now. I will be posting again later today...

Ah this is what I went to school for!!!

Okay so it's a sucky edit, but if it works, it'll be one of the most satasfying edits I've made in a long time... It involves a number of effects, Line 21 data, IRE levels, and some non-traditional technique. It's one of those moments where I hate my job so much I love it.

More later

AGH!!!!

I'm getting really frustrated with work...little errors that aren't getting caught till too late!! Tomorrow I've got to fix a doozie. Agent pic on a 2 week old show. I know how I'm going to have to do it. It just sick and wrong. Oh yeah and the skin update for this site is going to have to wait... My FTP is down!

Just finished watching Oh Brother, Where art Thou.... good movie. One of my favorites...great music.

Don't you just hate it when the people you know are going through crap and you can't do anything about it... I mean you can't even listen... I can try to be optimistic but that usually ends bad. I can try to encourage but that just gets me in trouble. All the things that work for me don't work for anyone else.

Whatthehellman!

So, what is it about Washington that renders people unable to keep their pants up? I always felt that general corruption was a way of life there, but dang... a new level of disrespect has been achieved. So what if he was a republican, I'm sure Democrats are just as bad. Only, like their hero Bill Clinton, they are better at covering it up, or not. Enough about that.

It's Thursday, a very light work day. I've got a number of side projects I need to work on. And there are the BIG 3. I'd love to get to work on the big three, but those are team projects, and the team hasn't moved yet. I've already done enough damage by venturing out on my own and getting stuff done. What do you think the CG project is?

I didn't do movie night last night, because I had a request to host a few matches of Battlefield. I love this game, especially it's mods. The guys, bobos and stretchmarks, seemed to have a good time, but I can't wait to get the dedicated game server up and running. Up to this point, my computer has been the only one that can host these things. So if anyone wants to play I usually get the call.

I'm sure I'll post some more stuff later...

Material and Bones

How long has it been since I last enjoyed goofing off with a 3D modeler!? Last night I was up late...again. working with and newer 3D tool called MODO. It's disturbingly easy to use considering it's made by the rouge designers of Lightwave. However unless one is going to go all out 3D has only minor application today's production landscape. I could see it as a tool for making digital sets or for design elements. But character animation has advanced to a point where if can't do it well, you can't do it. This is an exciting tool though. Awesome layout and design!

With all the video/design stuff aside, I'm finding my self in need of something new. Video is good and all, but I need a new outlet, or experience or something. I'm sinking into the sea of pixels :) Maybe I've been focusing on the tech side too much. This last weekend I gave my "pretty pictures move" speech, and she came back with something I've forgotten. She added ...and inspire. All my work for the past three years has been video for experimentation and my own reasons... when was the last time I aimed to inspire? I mean I'm finally at a point where I can do something like that. What would that project be? Would it be a short film? Uber cool graphics deal? The tools and the skills are there. all I need is the vision.

---Later That Day---
During Lunch I was thinking about how much I miss traditional photography. You know, the kind with film? Sure, I was never able to get a perfect negative, but there's something about doing work I the dark room that I kinda miss. Point and click photo correction has nothing on contrast filters an exposure time :) So yeah, it's been a contemplative week. It's also been a weird as far as sleep... Usually I can wake up without an alarm with no problems. This morning I woke up @ 7:50!!! BTW that's really really late for me. The dream wasn't even all that good :P
I need to stop staying up so late. Things are changing fast. Is this what normal is like? And as always, "I need a woman (lol)".

Pnuma, Psuche, & Zoe

So last night I was intending to dive into the world of life after death and the problem of hell and all that sort of stuff. But I got side tracked first, by the usage and meanings of the Greek words that are translated in English as "life" This was really mind-blowing stuff how these words are being used.
Then I got sidetracked again by a friend who needed some help with a paper on the 2000 election. Of course her questions were twisted in favor of "Saint Gore". All that was really needed was some fact checking. I'm still surprised that despite being in a poli sci class that they haven't handed out copies of our founding documents. I mean can you understand the concepts of Due Process and Equal Protection without reading about them in their original context?

College is truly a strange place. As far as I've heard.

----Later that Day----
Waiting for the computer to finish importing Closed Captioning Data...

So once again it's that time of week, time to select a movie. The rules are known... only one "I have never seen it before". I have some reccomendations, but I've been feeling like a Harrison Ford/Jack Ryan movie. I miss those things! I think Patriot Games is the only one I've not seen. So that's on the list.
I also have The Gods Must Be Crazy II and Lonesome Jim (another 20-something angst film) on there too.

Today went well... had something to do @ every point. It looks like we'll be getting our dedicated homeshow/video content server soon! Looking forward to that. But I really want to get the green light to begin work on the October/November graphics projects. Every day that goes by adds to the stress level down the road.

So yeah <---- I have alot of blogs titled that

The importance of ya'll...I'm a fan of the second person plural. It's a shame it hasn't been standardized in the English language. I still think English sucks as a language too. It's so difficult to say what you mean.

So it's another morning and I'm eating my usual eggs in one form or another (Now, it's eggs in toast). I don't eat breakfast cereals... it's weird, I know, I just don't anymore. I haven't since I moved out here. There are some habit that you strive for, others that just happen.

I have to go to work today...thrill, the weekends are far too short these days. Maybe i should wake up earlier so I can actually enjoy the morning before work. You know, do a little reading, have some tea. But that would also mean getting to bed earlier...phooey! I don't get enough sleep.

A good friend of mine noted that I've been staying up later these days... it's true, I have been. The old pumpkin is dead, and there are reasonable causes. Primarily I have alot on my mind these days. Alot of potential energy going into this winter/fall.

---Later that day---
I never thought a single show could ever take so much brain power!!!! I spent most of the day de-kinking my new process for creating on-screen graphics. It's been in the works for a few months, but this is the second week in applying it to actual projects. This is just the beginning of the next set of projects. This is going to be a crazy couple of weeks. You know I'm going to love it though ;P

HEY! I havn't done a playlist post for a while!
here we go...

Fave Albums recently:

Above & Beyond: Tri-State <---The best Trance album this year!!!
Montgomery Gentry: Something to Be Proud Of (best of) <---Latest country addiction
Jars of Clay: Good Monsters <---Creative christian music...go fig!
Gaelic Storm: Bring yer Wellies <---very primium music
Chris Thile: How to Grow A Woman From the Ground <--- Awesome Bluegrass/Roots
Ani DiFranco: Puddle Dive <--- Old but still amazing (my favorite from her)
Bleach: Space <--- One of my favorite Christian rock albums period.

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.

<<<>>>

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.

uh yeah...again

After what proved to be a very productive day I did watch my movie. It was a dissappointment.

A. Sarcasim is funny in moderation, but it shouldn't be the foundation of any film!

B. Don't put ALL the good lines in the trailer.

C. It's called an ending people, learn it, love it, USE IT!!!!

D. The whole thing felt too ADD for me, complete your thoughts.

E. NPR types probably loved this movie...

So afterward i watched Garden State. One of the best movies I've seen and one of the few I can watch on a semi-regular basis.
Why do I like this movie?
It's very much "What you see is what you get".
It had a good ending, and heaven forbid, it's a happy one.
Of course the sound track.
I love the story, it's simple but very layerd.
Quiet visual gags.
Distinct characters, they don't all run together.
Embraces the oddities of life.

It's just too bad it's been knocked off as much as it has.
I have a few ideas for the next move.. keep ya posted.

I was going to write a rant on techno but....

It's wednesday!!! And one of the movies I have really ben looking forward to is out on DVD this week. I wanted to see it in the theatre but I don't think any Milwaukee area screens had it.
It's a little ditty called, Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. It seems to have a good plot, low key sense of humor, and recomendations from the critics that matter.

Oh yeah, and techno is cool just because...

Rolling Tape Break

random rant

I now have a half an hour to sit and jabber on about stuff. My computer is doing all the work right now. Anyway, the subject for this break is country music. I have long had a love/hate relationship with the stuff. For years I refused to listen to to it, because oddly enough I found that I liked it alot. After all, aside from hip-hop it's probably the most hated styles out there. I have no idea why. It's good music, and it's intelligent songwriting. It's proud to show it's heritage, all the way back to it's immegrant roots. It's fun to listen it touches on a very wide range of emotions, and is always willing to laugh at itself. It's always being innovated. And of course it just oozes with the American (see Red State) attitude.
I still don't know who's who, or anything like that. But I can tell you it's great work music.

end random rant

show's almost over... see ya round

So uh yeah...

You know when you get one of those projects that are pretty cool, but you still don't want to do? Okay so maybe you don't. I get that way whenever I'm asked to develop an new workflow. One that will disrupt things no matter what. Kinda like when we adopted Closed Capioning :) It's always alot of fun to learn a new technology. I just know that not everyone shares my enthusiam for such things. Especailly when it involves a little more effort on their part. Despite the fact it's a vast improvement on what we got.
I have no personal projects right now. . . it's nice. . . for now.

I'd like to start over....

Last week was a little wierd... in fact... I still feel a little wierd. I think it's going to stay this way for a while. In the mean time, I'll try to keep this place as light hearted as possible. That may mean fewer public posts...

Another Movie Chinese Food :0

Given that wednesday night was taken up by a very enjoyable Gealic Storm concert with good peoples. I still felt like a movie night. Anyway during that concert one of the people I was with quoted a film line I had forgotten about. In fact, I never really thought of it as that quotable. It was from a film called The Gods Must Be Crazy.

First thing that struck me was how crude the filmmaking was. But shortly after getting into it this became more charming than anythng. I could see how this could be an offensive movie to some because of the depiction of the bush people. In fact, I was waiting for the "curtain to be pulled back" to see the real people, but to my surpise this never happened. Another riminder that this film was made in another time. Before it was society's job to jade children by the time they turn 10.

Another surprising moment was the funny depiction of African power stuggles. Especialy when I think about the recent situation on Somalia. I admit I did chuckle a bit during the attempted coup scene. And the good old, old school slapstick. Always good to see in moderation.

All in all i liked the film, it isn't one for the collection, but does deserve it's place among the frequent rentals.

One more thing... I'm not much of a special features person. I don't really care what combination of technology a filmmaker used to do this or that, or what one actor is thinking at any given moment. I watch a movie to hear a good story or learn something (or best of all both). Not to be blown away by special effects (but if it adds to the story, fire away). The Gods Must Be Crazy was an exeption to this rule... At the end of the film I was curious about how the flim was made... it had to have an interesting story behind it... and I'm happy to say the DVD delivers.

Next week.... don't know

The next week FINALLY "Finding Humor in the Muslim World" comes out on DVD!

take it easy ya'll

Whoa! Nice surprise here.

So there is a brand spanking new portishead track floating around out there on iTunes. Apparently it's on some tribute album. Anyway this go me to checking out thier website...there is a new album in the works. WOOT!!!! So that, a new BT album, and a new Celdweller album are the ones I'm waiting for right now.

Another Geek Post....and cats

Here are the parent's cats. Riot and Kuzco

Okay, so I'm looking at what it would take to upgrade Yagi recently...uh people. Why did I buy a Socket 754 motherboard? I can get a an AMD X2 3800 for $150, or even a Athlon64 3700 for under $100. However I'd need to get a 939 mobo and new RAM as well that's about $300-400 total.

Anyone wanna buy a 754 motherboard with a Athlon 64 3000+ and 1GB on RAM?

There are so many different things I want to upgrade on the system too.

well, editor's block knocked down...

This is another photo from the playground @ Summit Elementary where I attended fourth grade

I've been able to get a good head start on the three big video projects for the week. And I'm very satesfied with the progress on all of them. It's some really cool stuff. Now i just need to keep everything on track. Not much to that, just try to keep everything going at a quick steady pace.

On to the next bit o' fun for the week: Gaelic Storm part 2.

Deer in the headlight moment...

I love this shirtFor all those without 20/20 vision the lower line says. "Without angst there is no art".


Ah it's a calssic. When you look at all you have to do in the week ahead and have no idea how to do it. There's no schedule that you can make for it, no timelines, no processes. Just a list of things that need to be done by the 18th. Creative work can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. Especailly when one is running low on ideas. I need a creative jumpstart...

Oh yeah interesting song to listen to on the wierd electronica front..

The Audience by Herbert.

very catchy

Day 2

I love it when I can get a really deep sky blue in a photograph.
Day 2

This was a pretty good one, Lots of photo taking, a little sunburn, and ending with one of my favorite movies... doesn't get much better than that!

The photo hunt took me all over the area to places I haven't been to in years. I've got plenty of interesting shots to post for a while now. Very cool... however all this running around led to a little sunburn, but I don't mind. I like to think a litte burn shouws that your doing something :)

Finally Chocolat, one of the best films ever made... Good message, Good Filmmaking, Good story, Graet choices in actors. For those who haven't seen it...SEE IT!!!!!! I would even like to see it possibly become a FourTwelve film. Hey P. Mike used it more than once :)

Day 1

Well, It's been a good morning so far Picked up the ticket for tonight :) :) :)
I'll also be helping with some kitchen demolition this afternoon. Taking down the ceiling in the basement...I know it souds wierd but it does make sense.

Til later.

later that day

Gaelic Storm had a wonderful show, good on-stage schick, and crazy good perfomance solos! I can't wait to see them again.

The basement/kitchen demo went great... I'll be posting some photos, but I think they'll only matter to Becca and Curits.

Tomorrow (or later today) I will be working on special photo project. Kind of a retrospective of the key places of my childhood. If all goes well it'll end up being a digital collage of some kind.

take it easy ya'll.

travelday!!!!!

Work can't get over fast enough!!!! I think I'm going to try to get there as early as possible, with out being insane of course. Maybe like 7:30 or something like that. that way I'm out @ 4:00 ish. I'm so excited about this trip! I may even try for getting out @ 3:30...

Oh yeah... I'll also try to be back in time for FourTwelve.
And I will be posting some photoblogs over the weekend.

Ben

walk the line...

Quality film... Coming into it, I had no idea what to expect. What I found was another really great, well told story. I liked it, it was a little more imperfect, a little rougher around the edges than I expected and all the better for it. A very quiet film. Walk the Line deserves a place in my small collection.

I'm going to buy this one.

...

Another good morning all! It's wednesday, the week is almost over and I couldn't be happier. Just two more days till Gaelic Storm show #1! And it's also a movie night. Tonight I'm still deciding between 3 Walk the Line, Nemesis (shout out to Jo), and a new one on reccomendation from the parents, Cassanova. Right now I'm leaning toward Nemesis simply because I admit my aversion to it to this point has been unfounded. Just that I didn't think the Star Trek movies could ever recover from Insurrection.
So yeah to work again.
I'm getting way too much spam on .mac. I guess it's time to update the rules... *_* yay...

A few minutes to nutsness....

As most of you know I'll be going back to La Crosse this weekend. Can you tell I'm excited! It's funny that I have a really hard time calling it home. Cuz home really has become 'tosa. Yes in a matter of a few months I think I'm finally in a position to put down some roots. Something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but never saw the opportunity. Well on to another crazy day in this 4 day work week!

Another new site you must check out!!!!!
www.wefeelfine.org
Takes a little explaining so check out this podcast from Benjamin Walker's Theory of Everything.

Having a "day". Trying to get ahead of the list of crap to do, then I get stuck. Becuase somthing goes wrong with something I have no control over. So yeah, running around in circles here. I have a doodle I may post later today.

It's that time of year again...

Yes, it's that time when mac fans come together and listen to what t3h Jobs has to say. Yes it is the day of Jobs' Keynote during the Apple WWDC. I have no idea what to expect here, I know what I want to see, but the best part about these things the secrecey surrounding them. Is an iPodAV on the horizon? Or maybe a new MacPro based on the Core 2 Duo (or a couple of them). Are we going to see Adobe dive into Universal Binary? Is MacOS X Leopard going to show it's self? All I want to hear is 4 little words..."and one more thing"

on second thought...
Zzzzzzzzz...

It's been 6 years and I still love what I do!

It's been 6 years since I started exploring this crazy video thing. Working on this project for some good firends I realize I still absolutely love it.

Sure some of the office drama may get a little tiring. Then there's the fact that technology is changing so fast. But still, there is nothing like sitting in front of a video editing system with a bunch of blank files and a bunch of ideas to fill them and all the tools I'll ever need. Even what I'm doing right now, something as mundane as resizeing 300+ photographs is kinda cool, cuz I know what it's going to be in the end. I don't deserve my life, I don't deserve any of this. I think that's the point though.

It's funny, I remember this sculpture in High School. It was the only thing that I made those years that I liked. It was one of those plaster hand sculptures. It was two hands, one was on a computer mouse the the cable of the mouse went into a computer monitor, and on the other end of the mouse cable was another hand holding a paint brush facing out from the monitor. I never thought how true it would be.

Back to work

Another reason US Cellular rocks.

Last night was kinda wierd. I was talking to someone on my cell phone. When it sudddenly cut out. And wouln't turn on again. Took it to the tech @ US Cellular (Bonus points for excellent service, again!!) Found out there was a short in the charging system in the phone and he fixed it on the spot for free. I love this company! It's nice to have the thing working again.

V for Vendetta

KICK!!!
Really good film period. Kind of an 1984, meets X-Files, meets a bit of The Matrix (for obvious reasons) and a whole lot of doing it's own thing. The "maskless" Hugo Weaving at the end was a nice touch too. I love the style behind it all. Solid charaters, knives beat guns, and shocker...a really good story. (oh yeah and cool explosions too)

It could have done without some of the cheap shots reguarding current events, but it's hollywood and for them to leave those out would have been a real disapointment. Unfortuantely they do date the film as well, which really is too bad.

But all that aside, V for Vendetta gets my thumbs up and bonus points for style as well as a few more extra points for including Stephen Fry in the cast. AND it gets the Ultimate Super Point for actually ENDING (and ending well at that), no obvious attempt to lead into a sequel!!!

one more thing... even when you can't see his face Hugo Weaving is still an amazing actor!

and another thing... It's great to see Natalie Portman moving out of her Star Wars image. Now let's just hope some Star Wars fanboy doesn't have a bald fetish :) I know I'm probably the millionth to say that.

This film deserves a place in my list of faves in the neighborhood Kill Bill and Underworld.

Chinese and a movie.

This week has been so crazy! I feel like I've done a week of work in the first 3 days alone. @ least I get to enjoy what is becoming a great mid-week ritual. The chinese food and a movie night. Up for tonight is V for Vendetta. I missed in the theatre, so release week is the best I can do. I just hope it isn't like The Matrix where I was kicking myself for not seeing in the theatre. Well, lunch is over and it's back to the insanity!

On a more gooder note!!!!

New Gaelic Storm album today, just what I needed.

I love Johnny Tarr! (the story does continue in the album)
Plus the instrumentals are just INSANE!!! love it, just love it.

Ah crap not again!!!!

EDIT:
That was too depressing... see above post... how can I be in a bad mood!

Productive

It was an okay weeeknd, spent saturday at church working on video stuff. It wasn't the project I wanted to work on but it was still cool. I love doing the flanel board animations. Okay that may take a little explaination. Uh, never mind. I'll post one up here so you can see it for yourself:)

Ben
Currently listening to: Caedmon's Call- Share the Well...great music, great message. Really good work music.

FRIDAY!!!

It's the weekend! I get to sleep late again!!! I need a book to read in two or three nights. Something different and kinda long. I'll let you know what I get.


Thought to think about.
...time is God's way keeping everything from happening all at once.
A book I like alot.....

Ladies and Gentlemen!!!!

After much hassle and frustration I think I've got the beginnings of the new look. Now, it dosn't seem to work quite right in Internet Explorer. However, Safari and Firefox present it just fine.
For those on IE all your missing is the frame for the blog entries. This really is just a test run and I hope to do more of these as time goes on.

I'm going to bed now.

Cool update delayed...

Okay so I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board....apparently IE 6 dosn't support .png transparency... dorks!
So yeah. It was a great idea, it's just no one would be able to see it. Let's try something else.

Agh!

Big Changes in store for Between The Monitors

Good morning ya'll,
I'm just sitting in the office right now making plans for the rest of the day. It's a moderate load with something to do at all times. I've got "Chicago" to work on and "Columbia Updates" to complete if approved by the client. I also may just have to tidy up in here it's getting to be a little messy.

In speaking of tidying thigs up, I will be developing a new "skin" for this blog...the code isn't too difficult to work with and I've always wanted to personalize the thing. So be on the lookout for Between the Monitors v2! IT will definately be unique, in a good way!

Also, it seems like quite a few people are dealing with life crap right now. Which really sucks, cuz no one likes that. Truth is, I've found Jeremiah 29:11 can only take me so far. It's a comforting truth, but I find the real healing and comfort comes from the Psalms (followed by a heathy dose of Proverbs). There you find more than a pat answer for all of life's ups and downs. You will find people, just like us, coming to God with thier fears, worries, joys, and passions. The situations may not be the same, but thier reactions and emotions often are. You could almost think of Psalms as the first blog written in a place where it would remain archived and relevant forever :) So explore this book, and find yourself in it. It's well worth the ride.

take it easy peoples.

Just waiting for tapes to roll

With all the FourTwelve bloggers coming together over the last few days, I'd just want to get an idea of how we want to link all these things together. Should it be a list of links that everyone has on their pages? Should we have a central community blog? If this network gets off the ground should we hook it up with the Ridgewood web site? Do ya'll want a FourTwelve icon to go on your sidebar? (I should be able to get that set up) How do we open this up to those who don't blog and want to be a part of it?


I'm almost done capturing the tape. I'd like to hear some ideas.

the pretty pictures

Here it is peoples the IRL photo post!









This is Dan Wheldon with the kids, he's really a geat guy.









The only real wreck of the race!









I caught this guy napping before the race.









My newest "cool thing". It's my ticket signed by driver Dan Wheldon.









Pretty picture... I couldnt resist!











Preping #10 for the race...











This is my favorite car (Marco Andretti's NYSE #26) it just looks great

Breaking geek news!!!!!!

Yeah I went to the IRL Race yesterday, I'll be making a superpost with pics when I get the time. But first, I just read about this tidbit this morning.

AMD to buy ATI

This could be good...

The beer post

Don't expect this again anytime soon, it isn't very often that I find a bevarage I need to post about. Guinness, I guess it's one of those things you either love or you hate... I for one love it. I try to taste a different beer every month and this month the dark smooth goodness was the choice. First thing I noticed was the relatively light taste (compaired to the usual dark beer I've tried). Then there was that great little bite, and then there was the real surpise, it's really smooth. Very drinkable, very dangerous, it's goes down like Iced tea :) If you haven't tried it, try it, it's way better than Green Beer ya'll.

Take it easy and be responsible. Next month: Liene's Sunset Wheat.

Crash...Well deserved Best Picture

In Hollywood there is this need to put a fairy tale ending racially driven movies. Crash ends with a smerk. It ends with one of the movie's "sane" characters slipping into the same hole that everyone seems to slip into. There is no pure character, everyone take their turn being the good guy and the bad guy. The networks between the people and the people themselves are wonderfully complex.

After seeing this film I needed to write and get everything out on paper. It's a question of where does one see themselves, and how much does one really know? It's about stories, and how those stories form the perspective of the person. The only story one can truly understand is their own, and most importantly every story is valid. It doesn't matter if your a majority or a minority, male or female, your story matters. Assumptions are the mother of all screw-ups and in this film it rings as true as ever.

As for my favorite scene... It's a two parter, when Sandra Bullock's character says, "I'm always angry, Every day I wake up angry" then later recognizes that her maid was the only one there to help her when all her friends were "busy".
In the end, as much stupid hatred there was in the film there was also an air of forgiveness in an odd sense. There was an element of ingnoring the past and being in the present. I was not expecting that, a pleasant surprise. Too often in the racial debates, the past is all we look at.

I think this is an important film for this time. The civil rights movement is over and for the most part equality has been reached in a legal sense. The work now is to figure out how to live together. Live life with no assumptions, take one day at a time, accept everyone at face value, and be willing to forgive others ignorance (cause in the end you are ingnorant too).

Ah Vacation....

Sure it was a little less than 2 days, but I just had the best vacation I've had in years! It was just a little hop up to Minoqua, WI with some friends, but really, it was perfect! Absolutly nothing to worry about, no real drama, and sarcasim was kept to the light playful kind. I was introduced to a new musical addiction "Gaelic Storm", and I finally felt I might not be crazy after all. I wish I could write all the little cool things that happend down, but that would take forever.
(But I'll try)
- Fighting Ducks
- Towing a Jet Ski
- Thunderheads in the distance
- Floating on the lake for hours
- Apples to Apples
- Reading through Philippians...again
- Impromtu Fireworks
- Good peoples
- Staying up till 2am talking geek with awesome (that's a million hot dogs "AWESOME") peoples.

It was one of those weekends where you'd wish you could have just one more day of it, but not having that extra day is what makes it so great.

Dang I love "Johnny Tarr"!

Oil Prices.... some thoughts.

Okay, so raising oil prices based on risk from hurricanes, Iraq and Iran is perfectly reasonable. It's just a reality of living today. But the latest stint of price hikes are getting a little silly. Basing a price hike on North Korea or Isreal is just a bit far fetched.
So I have this to say to the futures types in the international banks...

Give us a break, give our oil companies a break, grow some balls, and stop flinching on every little world event. If nothing happens your little bubble is going to pop and that isn't going to be good for you or your investors. Uh oh Bush just caught a cold.. That's it! oil's going over $80 /barrel. The state of New York will love that one (gas tax there is based on price, not on quantity, how's that for gouging!). This could become a great game! Name a world event and estimate it's effect on oil prices.

edit-
So I guess I could see how North Korea and Isreal could have an effect actual oil prices in general. But seriously though, I still think the market is overreacting badly.

Why can't I post on my mac?

It's an interesting point. I cannot post on blogger from my mac, go fig. No great loss, that's why I put the PC online :)

The insanity is almost over here @ work and you know it wasn't all that bad. In fact, I may be able to get away with a little experimental graphics stuff at the end of today. On paper the last two days looked awful, but with some slick planning and effective back-up plans everything got done AHEAD OF TIME...WE ROCK!

The break really did break even, I mean I had the parents down and the fireworks were fun. But I was sick for the whole weekend with a killer headache. I wich I could have it back :) I tried to make the most of it.

Take it easy ya'll

Hey I can dream can't I?

Okay so I really want to see a next-gen iPod. The current gen is getting a little old and it is about time for an update. I mean a real update. Like a PSP type update. A 16:9 touchpad screen would be nice. Ability to export video to a larger screen onboard, an onboard iSight camera all with the good old apple sense of style, Safari Mobile web browser. It wouldn't have the "pocket size" image. Rather it would be a digital lifestyle device. Ideally it would combine Movies, music, books and online information sharing.

Then I got to thinking about it and realized for the most part this device kind of exists in the Nintendo DS Lite. All they really need to do is make a little deal with Apple to develop a version of iTunes for DS (they already have a deal with Opera. Now wouldn't that be interesting? It could happen, two companies that seem to have similar attitudes and cultures. Innovation, (recently on Nintendo's part) great design, and simplicity seem to be @ the heart of both compnaies.

Besides. I think a portableGaming/Media system would be a whole lot more apealing than an uber cell phone. Packing all that crap in a cell phone (i.e. the iTunes phone) is one of the most misguided concepts out there. PSP had the right idea, but unfortuantely it's made by Sony. They have great ideas but thier implimentation and DRM rules suck! Apple's rules are firm but simple, Sony's rules are just ridiculous.

I'm going to go out and get a DS lite now. I'll let you know how it goes.

PS: BTW Burnout 3 is the best game I've played in a really really long time.

So it's been about a week

Yeah it's been a week since my last post, and what a week it's been! Alot of leaarning, a little humbling, all sorts of good stuff. Finding new weaknesses, as well as new strengths. And for the first time in a while I can honestly say I'm happy with life. Plus I've found a some new scripture that has really helped. Check out Psalm 108. Sure some of the imagery dosn't exactly work with 21st centuray america, but the ideas and truths behind it are amazing and encouraging.

Take it easy ya'll

Unique, just like everybody else

Initially I thought I was going crazy, but the more I look @ it the more true it is. I'm staying up later and sleeping in later too. Never thought that would happen. for the past year and a half or so I developed a reputation of being an early to bed early to rise type. But something snapped and I'm back to my midnight creative binges of the WWTC days. Not that I'm complaining. In fact it's kinda nice. I just wonder what it is that causes these shifts in natural pattern. hmm

Now let me draw your attention to the links section!

I've added two new ones. Threadless.com (As far as I'm concerned the best T-shirts on earth!)
And Benjamin Walker's Theory of Everything.
ToE is a weekly podcast that I have come to love. Sure he is an NPR lib type, but he not a snob about it (Maybe that's why he couldn't get a contract with them). Somtimes his shows can be a litttle edgey othertimes they can be LOL funny, sometimes they are did-he-just-say-that funny, comtimes they are thoughtful, and on occasion they can be offensive. No matter what, I know it's going to be a great ride and well worth the 10-30 mins.

take it easy.

Music Moment

Good news. That new Nelly Furtado album just came out. BAD NEWS, I'VE CHANGED MY MIND. This album sucks beyond all reason. I was initally a fan until I popped in some of her older stuff. What happend!? She's just like everyone else now! What's with the Spanish? Before she sang in Portuguese. Sell Out!
In other music release news. Paris Hilton has, in fact, released a single. Out of curiousity and a total disreguard of my well being I listened to the iTunes clip. I will be regretting that for the rest of the day. ugh.

And now for the current playlist:
Circles- BT
Land of my Sojourn- Rich Mullins
Tragedy- Celldweller
International Love Song- Caedmon's Call
(insert random 90's alternapop tunes here)
On Ice- Chris Thile
La Vie Boheme- RENT
Dissapear- Jars of Clay
Modulation- Ani DiFranco
Real Life-Aurora

So that's it for now.

Thoughts on National Events

Okay so this journalist guy is out there saying that terrorists were going to gas the New York City subway system...but they didn't. Now you'd think that this was an example of success in America's war on terror, but no! This is somehow a bad thing, or a neutral thing or I don't quite know what he's trying to say. The media is treating it like some kind of a scandal. No wait I get it... this has to do with the anti-terror funding reduction in New York. I get it. I don't think you can find anyone outside of Washington D.C. or on the editorial pages of the papers who would be pissed about this.
Let's look at the facts here. This revelation proves that the government wasn't off it's rocker when it elevated the orange alert on New York in 2003. It shows that there is a possibility that our intelligence gathering does work. And maybe just maybe the terror alert scale may just work not only as it was designed, but also as a deterrent.
I love this country. (rolleyes)

Okay

So it's been a while...

Hey ya'll It's just been a kickin' week here. Mostly good news on all fronts. Except for the car thing, but I plan to find out about that this weekend. I just hope it isn't the gaskets.

Anyway I usually don't do this but perhaps I shout start. Here is my news quote for the day. It was found in The Jerusalem Post (AP): (in the process of going through the debris of the recent air strike against al-Zarqawi they found a number of of items including a thumbdrive.)

When asked how he could be sure the information was authentic, al-Rubaie said "there is nothing more authentic than finding a thumbdrive in his [al-Zarqawi's] pocket."

The whole story is really good, I recommend the read.

That's it for now, Have a great day!

A little prayer request here...

Today @ work I found out that I acciddentaly shipped a project Ground instead of Next Day Air. So we shipped it again today via NDA + Saturday delivery. Now, the TV station that we are shipping to requires a number of steps in order to recieve that package on Saturday. If the delivery doesn't happen I have a lot of work to do,.and alot of unneded stress. So yeah it's kind of a practical prayer, but I'd really line the package to arrive on time and as planned. I'll give you an update as soon as I find out.

So yea, eventually everything panned out. It took a while with a number of moments of near disaster, but it really did work out.
Now I need to eat and put together some new furnature! I love Ikea!

-Ben

Yes another week...

That's it another work week is in the can. It's been a crazy one, but I hope things get back to normal next week. I feel like I've been walking on eggshels for the last two weeks. Between moving and work drama I'm craving a little stabilty to return. Sadly though I have some new drama on the horizon reguarding my car, Kitsune. It's been leaking coolant recently and I've been reluctant to take it in to get looked at. This could be really really bad news.
I will be making a run to Ikea tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to that! I'll be getting a TV stand a coffee table and possibly a large floor rug for the living room.
As for video projects, I'll be completeing the photo sequence project for Ridgewood tonight, and that will give me the time I need to start working on Tood & Julie's Wedding project seriously. YAY! I can't wait to finish that one. After that project comes the next flanelboard project! Double YAY!

Two Cents on World Events

The media will deny, the left will downplay, the fringe will cry foul, but in the end it looks like one of the greatest enemys to both Iraq and the Coalition is dead. Hats off to the units who managed to pull this off, you have put new optimism in the hearts of those who believe in freedom and justice for all in all corners of the world even in the ones that seem impossible. Also congrats to the Iraqi leadership in approving the final posts in their new government. This is a great day.

Good Morning!!!

Another morning, another day. I'm feeling good this morning, more so than usual, something is wrong with that. Maybe the late nights have recently taken a toll on my sanity! No wait... I've never had that in the first place. That's it, the world's going to end today. I know I've said in the past the day I begin dating is will be the end of the world (fire, brimstone, globe spins out of control as it hurdles itself into the sun, and Alec Baldwin becomes president). But no it's going to be today. To quote nickelback, "Im feeling way too damn good". There are two new comics on Instant Classic... we're doomed!

Later that day!
Apple relaunched the U2 iPod!? WTF! They could be developing the iPod/Newton/kick ass touchpad screen device of my dreams and they relaunch the ugliest thing they've come up with since the beige box G3!

Even Later that day...
So tell me again why on earth we need a Marriage ammendment added to the constitution? It seems a little stupid to me. Are we talking the religous intstution of marriage or the legal state of being married? They obviously not the same thing if you think about it. I mean a couple be recognized by the state but not by God, and vice versa. Heck, I even think that in some cases the organization called the church can operate independantly of both the law and God. So how about this. How about we call the legal state a Union, and let the church and God duke it out for the other ones :) Thus gay marriage can't happen unless a church organization recognizes as such, and the law cannot mess with the religious state of being married. And let God judge as He sees fit :)

More thoughts.

During FourTwelve the other night I made a comment that I think may have gone over peoples heads, or maybe it was too far out of left feild that only a few made the connection. We were going over the first part of James 5 and I brought up how I feel it applies to social responsibility. After all that this the first thing I see whenever I read that passage. I see applications to issues from globalization (not nessisarally a bad thing, given some time) to immigration. Just look @ it again. Again I need to point out, I'm not a member of the Hate America crowd. I do think that this country is one of the most compassionate in the world. However I think we can do better.

On another note:
I getting that feeling that Iran's "sabre rattleing" is just a power play. What would happen if the oil markets were to stop reacting to Iran's threats? Would the threats continue? Whatever happend to all that Iraqi Blood Oil the activists were all pumped up about?

Toward the End

So now I have about 80% of my stuff moved. The new place is really great. Not perfect, but really really close. The set-up I'm going for is very similar to the old place, but the reduced size of this place makes it much easier to visualize and excecute. I'll still be doing metal and glass for all surfaces and black for chairs. But this time around I'll actually do the movie poster thing...I'm excited (if you can't tell). I may even post some pics :P

Mid Move

Here I am kickin' back at the Henken household for the next 40 or so hours. I't been a crazy day that included a whole lot of runs, a nearly overheated car and a little more un-needed stressing. In the end the job did get done and I'm just about ready for my new home. Okay, so it's just another apartment but you get the idea.
So tomorrow it's back to work again. I'm going back to a crazy mad house. 6 days of work packed into 3 days. Thrill...all without a key player. Now there's a story! I have no idea what's going on. I need to stop stressing about that whole situation and just let it play out. I'm always expecting the worst and the worst is always the same thing.

Take it easy!

Signing out...

It's been another year and once again it's time to move. To be honest this last year has been my least favorite of the last three. I can't explain it. It's just felt so increadibly empty. I feel like I wasted it. It had a number of highlights, but even those weren't enough to break my generally gloomy mood. I don't know how to break it for longer than a day. Maybe I'll learn that this year.

Next time I post it will be from the new apartment.

The Morning Update!?

That is what this thing is quickly becoming. That thing to do while I wait for projects to come in @ work.
Aparently "the chad" is starting his new job soon (within the week?) WTG! Looking forward to seeing you day side!

News Report of Interest...
Nothing new this morning. Though there is always that AM2 thing that I could follow. Taylor won American Idol... all is right in the world. Now we can get on with our lives. X-Men 3 is getting panned...No surprise, then again I don't like the idea of Bret Ratner directing. @ least Kelsey Grammer is playing The Beast... that'll be good.

So tell me what happens when the Iraqi government starts to stand on it's own and we reduce our troops down there? What if Iraq becomes a success? How will Washington Democrats survive that? I'd love to find out.

Geek Moment..

Just hosted my first Battlefield online battle last night!!! Everything worked fine except for my brother-in-law's wireless connection kept giving out. Either way it was a lot of fun and I hope to continue doing more in the future.

In other news:
I've finalized my cross-town move plans for next week and it will take the whole week! Thank goodness my sister is willing to help out! Don't know about anyone else. It's a mid-week thing this time around. So people are gennerally busy. But I do hope to have a house warming party sometime in june.

FREE DAY!!!!

Okay today was a free day @ work. I had one major project to complete but that only took a little over an hour to do. As for the rest of it I've been working on a few projects I've been meaning to do for a while. Even some expereimentation with HD (That's been an eye-opener)! Anyway I find myself sitting here typing just itching to get outside! I still have my bike in my trunk :P

Wake up call

I went for a bike ride today.... It was a simple one from work to my new apartment. and back... I've never felt so out of it in my life. For the first time I've really felt how much I've let myself slide. All this desk work has been great for my head, but when was the last time I just went outside an just cruise for a really long time? It's been a while obviously. I found myself out of breath after two hills! Just one year ago I could bike around half of the Milwaukee metro area!!! Damn! I felt horrible. I've probably put on about 40 lbs since then....I want to go back. But I'm a desk jockey now. It sucks.

What I hope to be an easy going weekend

So yeah, It coming up on the weekend finnaly. It's going to busy but not so much that I'll be running around all the time. It's mostly just getting ready for my move. Doing a little packing, alot of cleaning and some teardown. Moving day is just over a week away now. The goal is just to just be ready for it.

Keep groovin'

Thoughts.

I've been thinking alot about my move recently, as you can no doubt tell. There's something in this one. It has a sense of "The way things should be" to it. Of course this opens up new goals and opportunities in life. I'm excited, I can thinks it's time to move on to the next level now...whatever that means.

What is this regular blogging!?

Work Stuff:
Today was really great. I was able to edit 2 shows, both were "roll-thrus" (No errors, love it when I do that). I had a fire to put out half way across the country, and it worked. I had some graphics work to do. And finnally I was able to teach my co-worker how to do closed captioning. Everything was great until we tried to get the captioning on the tape. His computer woudn't do it correctly and the fix added an hour and a half to the process! I did get a little angry. It keeps me humble. Anger is a funny thing. Just when I think I've delt with, it something comes along to test it. I'm still impaitient, I'm just better at hiding it now :) Will I ever grow up?

Check out Ushpizin!!!! It's a really good movie. Just be willing to read subtitles!

Year 4 and not counting...

Those who know me well, know that I have been counting the years that's I've lived here (year 1, year 2, year 3, ect.) It's very close to the beginning of year 4 and everything looks good. Then again that's what I said about last year. It's not that the previous year was bad, I just found myself in a frustrating holding pattern for most of it. Then I really let it get to my head about half way through leading to alot of unfounded (I'd say irrational) low points in the last 6 months.
However, this next year is starting out different. I'm moving to an area in town where I really want to move, things at work have been going very well, and I'm really trying to be optimistic and cautious about the future. I hope this is the last time I count years. Maybe then I'll be able to finally settle in.

I want a Wii!

I think this is the first time i've been this excited over a gaming system since I my NES oh so many years ago. So obvioulsy I've been really paying attention to E3 news for the past few days. The most exciting new so far, aside from the old news of the Virtual Console, is the potential return of the Zapper.
What ever happend to this humble piece of technology? Why has it taken 20 years to come back? It was obvioulsy one of the best game paripherals of all time. Despite the fact only used it on 2 games (Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley).
The more I think about it the more is seems that with the Wii, Nintendo is getting back to it's roots. The Wii controller is nothing more than the full realization of the Power Glove, and there's that prototype zapper too. Anyway I'm rambling...
I guess we'll just have to wait for Q4 2006.

I'm Back!!!!

With like beginning to slow down a I feel it's time to return to bloggerland.

Tony Snow-
I think the appointment of Tony Snow is the best news out of Washington in years. The best part is how the media is taking it. All they need to hear is that Mr. Snow opposes Bush on a few issues and they think he is a friend. If anything Snow opposes Bush when he moves too far to the Left.
I feel Snow may help recover the attitude that made me fall in love with this administration in the first place. You know the, "I'm gonna do what I want to because I feel it's right so stop complaning." That's leadership!
Recently they have been pandering to the established media and thier poll-based fear mongering a bit too much. Think about it. We're going to show you nothing but bad news then we are going to ask you what you think of things. Have you seen a network news report recently? It's depressing, instead of reporting that attacks in Iraq are on the decline they focus on the death count for the day. If there aren't any Coalition deaths then they go to civilian deaths if there aren't any of those they go to enemy deaths, with a "how dare we kill our enemy" bent. Then there is the Economy. You'd think that the whole world spins around US gas prices! It doesn't! Our economy is just steaming along! And how about Gas prices? Remeber when the Left was saying we could pay as much for gas as the Europeans? Well now we are, and what are they doing? Saying we are paying too much and that we should all anal rape the oil industry because they deserve it.
Although I see why Bush may want to investigate big oil, the move doesn't exactly score points with his conservative base (myself included). It's not the polls that make Bush a weak president, it's pandering to them that makes him a weak president. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the negative poll numbers come from disillusioned conservatives. Right about now I think I'd give him my disapproval for being a wuss domestically.

This is you...

May Dad had this thing he liked to say to my sister. It goes like this:

This is the Universe (Gestures a big circle).
This is the Center of the Universe (Points to the center of the big circle).
This is you (points somewhere off in the distance).
You are not the the center of the universe.

Rude? A little. But in the end it points out an important lesson that I needed to learn more than she. No one am not privy to every little change in the way things are be it at work, with friends, at church, or anywhere. Nor is anyone to be offended when they're locked out. Once one starts to think like they should know everything that's going on, it turns into a slippery slope to all sorts of nasty. Believe me, I've been in that nasty for a few months now. It isn't worth it. I don't want to be there again. Information is good infornography is not.

What is infornography? That's what happens when you let information rule your life. It isn't like gossip where it's spread. This stuff you keep to yourself to be used later, or to try to get ahead of the curve. That first little tid bit feels pretty good till it leads to another then another, than another. Then the info isn't enough. Then you start to make supposedly "informed" assumptions. Then those assumptions become mindsets that are next to impossible to get out of. They often lead to extremes of emotional highs or lows. I think it's an addiction. Or maybe I'm just crazy.

Meaningless Fluff.

So yeah, it's another second half the day and I'm finding little to do. We did another Video Shoot today with outstanding results with mixed lighting. Thrill oh thrill. to see these clips turn out okay. Ah, it just feels good.
As for the title, I'm not happy with the content of this blog... not only have I not published anything recently. What has been published has be pretentous fluff. I'm not really that intelligent, I just think I'm good at guessing...Think about it.
I need a map.

That was random...

I have no idea what I'm about to write about... I just wanna write and go with it.

I have a Lan Party coming up soon. Looking forward to it. I finnaly get to put YAGI in action. For those who don't know Yagi is my trusty Gaming computer. I've already written the specs elseware on this site so I won't do it again. Oh yeah I've finally upgrading to 1 GB RAM PC2700

I think people should build their own computer at least once in their lives. It's really is alot of fun. It's kinda like a car only it's cheaper and not nearly as messy. Plus, there is ALWAYS something to upgrade, so the project never really ends. Next up is that SATA HD. After that I may just need to start all over with a new MoBo and Proc. In hindsight, going with Socket 758 was a bad decision, the best processor I can get for it is a AMD 64 3700, I think.

PCI-E would be decent to have as well. Then again with that Yagi wouldn't be Yagi anymore. It would be, uh, Usagi? That would work.

Agh, whatever that's about a year down the road anyway.

Another link and an artist returns...

Being the Photoshop geek I am, I can't believe I've never heard of worth1000.com. Check it out there are a ton of great ideas that I wish could happen and a few I don't. This brings an intersting point... It's been a really long time sinse I've just goofed off with Photoshop. It's become too much of a blah work tool. I'm going to change that. Posts coming soon!

Brian Caroll of instantclassic.net isn't dead!!!! The Aritst and writer of a number of quality web comics is promising new comics soon, I can't wait.

Just bought another Ani Difranco album (Little Plastic Castle), yess, feed the addiction! I now have more Ani music in my playlist tthan any other single artist. So you may find it odd that a conservative white straight male would even listen to her. However, I like what she has to say about life, I enjoy her sense of humor and amazing talant and skill. Sure her, Bush hating gets on my nerves, but that's what freedom of speach is all about. Which brings me to the next point.

This whole damn muslim comics thing.
Freedom of the press is a good thing. It's really what defines western cuture, now that Europe is all secular and stuff. However with that right comes resopnsiblity. The Dixie Chicks know all about this. You have every right to say what you want, just be willing accept the consiqunces. We have a right to speak, not the right to be heard or the right to be agreed with.

At the same time, the muslim world need's to get off the bandwagon approach to violence. Do you protest because you yourself are offended or because someone tells you you are offended? This is a huge problem in the world in general. People listen to others too much.

Take the wiretapping issue. The media makes a huge deal about it. They use loaded English and pathos to convince half the country that Bush is evil. At the same time, the President and his peoples are doing the same thing saying his opponents are irresponsible. How about this, use your news gathering tools, Goolge News for example, read about the issue from all sides (there is no such thing as fair and balanced, it wouldn't get any ratings), find the corelating facts, and make your own opinion. Not because it is the popular opinion or the dissenting opinion, or the cool opinion, or your parents opinion, or your teacher's opinion, but because it is your opinion.

I am a conservative, but that dosn't make me a Republican. If a Democrat or Independant were to come along who represents my world view, I would vote for them too.

Wow that was a rant!

I don't know anything....

You know those moments when you ego is flying so high that (insert Icarus metaphore here). Yeah, that happens on what seems to be a daily basis for me. Assumptions are, in fact, the mother of all screw-ups. And I assume a lot. Sometimes it's increadibly accurate, most times it's only half accurate, on other occations it's totally off. I was just totally off by a long shot! Here's to humility and the reality that I know very little in the grand scheme of things.

MacWorld 2006

"The Steve" just finished another one of his keynote speeches. This had to be his least interesting in a while. The One More Thing was a beefy new MacBook Pro line of notebook PCs. The primary thrust of the speech was the Intel switch and consumer end software. Niether of which I had much interest in. Sure, iWeb may be kind of cool as a new blog tool, but I just don't use iLife enough to make it worthwhile. What I hoped to see was a set-top mac. Instead there was more blah than anything.
I now see the purpose of Mactel, and I am impressed. However, I have no use for a laptop right now. So I guess it's back to the waiting game for that set-top mac.

If I ever go pubilc with this thing.....

Okay so technically it is public. It's out there for people to read, it's just I haven't really told anybody yet. So if someone does end up reading this: I'm not as crazy as I seem and I'd really like to know how you found this. My update rate is now to a point where I think I'll start to let the word out.

Aside from that.

Life continues in it's usual way, only with more clouds than usual. I don't know how many of you live in the upper midwest, but how about that lack of sun? We are blessed to have very mild temps, but the daily overcast is getting to me.

Serenity-
So remind me again why I was supposed to like this? Yeah sure, it's got eveything my domgraphic should like, except what is it? You can create the most complicated political conspiracy or the most surprising plot twist you want. But there is something that just seems to be missing. I know, how about some more Bradbury type plots. Eternal Sunshine and Vanilla Sky are a great examples of how sci fi doesn't have to be in a galaxy far far away to be great.
Maybe that's it. I don't buy the whole space ship thing. There also seems to be this stupid thing about bandits with a heart of gold thing going around. I gotta think about that one some more

Til then,

Another "Holy crap, did I just write that?" moment

It's a funny thing. From the time one is born to about 22. People's stories remain very similar. There are clear choices that everyone makes, and these choices are the things that unite one to another. Once you get past 22 the game changes. The common choices no longer exist. And you cannot rely on those to unite. People really do go off in their own directions, based on their values. And this is the thing that will be important for the rest of your life, your values. Do you belive in incesesing your Net worth? Do you belive in doing what you love to do? Do you only do what is expected? Do you plan than move or do you move then plan? All are viable, and all have their merits, but the right path for anyone requires wisdom. And then you have to wonder where does your wisdom come from? Then there is the question of the relationship between values and wisdom and whether or not one can exist without the other, but that for another time. Oh yeah, and there is also the question, can you undrestand somethig without expereince it? And then there is the question of expereince and realness. What is more real in a given situation. The event itself or the emotions and such that go with it?

I love it!