Fall Break?

I put a question mark because I really don't consider it a break for me yet. Although I do not have any classes to attend at UNL this Mon. and Tues., I still have my Espanol to go to at SCC downtown. That is rather hectic right now due to all of the homework needing to be done by martes de medianoche for the examen on miercoles. Like my broken spanish? You gotta let me slide, cause I think I am only cuatro weeks in at this point. It's the verbs that are giving me problems.

But the real reason I don't consider it a break is that I am trying to get caught up or ahead in all of my classes at la universidad as well over the break due to the Vegoose trip I leave for on Thurs. afternoon. We don't come back until very late Mon. night, and I am very anxious because all of the costume gear is in, I got to try out my new camera I just purchased on Fri. night at the Chicago Afrobeat show at the Zoo, and it is SWEEEEET. I can do so much with this bad boy. It even lets me record audio in stereo for over 2 hours on a 2GB card. I can also take snapshots while in the middle of shooting a video w/o interruption to it. I am sure I will have plenty to share after the extended weekend trip.

I made a very good dent in Spanish homework and Typography layouts today. Martes en la manana (Tues. in the Morning), I am going to try to finish some sketch work for drawing that I need to make up, and hopefully a little flash for publication afterward. I have Wed. night for that also, so it might get put off until then just cause of the intense workload.

Wish me luck.

OK, now I have been slacking on the blog entries. But I will try to make up for it.

First off, I felt bad because it was the first birthday my brother has had a few days ago that he hasn't been in town to celebrate it with the fam. He moved out to San Diego late last year, and has been loving it. However, my sis was there for it. It was her first time out to visit, so I am the only one left that hasn't gone out to see him yet. I am broke, what can I say?

I am jealous of the fact that he gets to surf in his leisure time quite a bit. I think that would be such a fun hobby to take up. Just something about just you and the huge amount of water. Being able to somewhat harness the power of nature has got to be amazing! I have heard from various documentaries that it has been getting quite crowded in the last decade, so that could become a buzzkill.

Anyway, that's all for now. Tell my bro happy belated B-Day.

Flash Animation frustration

I have program problems...SURPRISE!!
We are supposed to have a 5 second animation in flash ready today, and I gave up my book to Catherine, so I can't look things up on motion tween. I tried the help menu, but that sucks. So I am just going to explain my idea. I am going to take the picture posted, and first paint the star like brush strokes, and then write the text as if it is handwritten. Also, I am going to put it on a white background, so I can write the text with black strokes. I might have to abandon the last part because I am a beginner. But the star thing I thought I could do with a white rectangle blocking the red brush stroke, and then applying a motion to the blocking to slowly move it out of the way. So much for that. All I was able to do is create the custom brush stroke in Photoshop, open it & save it as an Illustrator file, import it to the library in flash, and place it where it should go on the stage. You don't have access to custom brushes in Flash. Anyway, hopefully it will work out when I know what I am doing with a book resource. Wish me luck.



P.S. either no body knows what the hell I am talking about or cares enough to comment, so I will just bitch to myself. GRRRRRR...

Spanish and Costume Beginnings

Well, the ball is rolling on the road to Espanol. I am doing fine so far, but it is early yet. Got to keep on top of these things. Some of the greetings that vary from different spanish speaking countries is a little weird. The instructor told us that (I think Spain) the government was trying to ban the standard "air Kiss" greeting, because saying "hi" to everyone was eating up too much of the workday. You need legislation for this???

And the pieces of Vegoose costumes are coming together. Ordered the Tank top jerseys today, with the logos printed on them. What do you think?

Controversy

Just got done watching a marathon of a show that I didn't realize I had access to before. We have a DVR from Time Warner downstairs (not as good as TiVo...) that gets the digital tier. That not only includes the music channels, but the 200's range as well. I discovered IFC (Independent Film Channel) and this is the channel "The Henry Rollins Show" is on.

I can't rant like he does, but his shows are very informative and open minded. And I am not just saying that because I enjoy the show. There has often been interviews with guests that I don't find much interest in due to past work that they have done, and I come away from the show having a better idea of why they do what they do. That makes more sense to me.

Why does anyone do what they do? Why do some people get motivated from things or causes that you or others find little interest in, or feel it not as important. I have always respected him as a rational thinker, and his opinions on anything you can tell are contemplated in his mind to full extends until it makes sense to him, often when is does not to others. I recommend going to his site just to find a piece of his wisdom.

His "letters from Henry" bit, as well as the show opening "Teeing Off" are where he expresses his feelings on whatever, but it usually has something to do with current events, or a tie in to a long time controversy. At the very least, he is very passionate about what he does, and what he is capable of doing.

Anyway, I hope you discover for yourself.
The Henry Rollins Show on IFC

Here is his rant on a so-called mission statement for the show:
Keep in mind that many of these are UNCENSORED. Not for the easily offended.
http://live.video.rainbow-media-online.com/ifcvideos/henry_show/Ep1TeeingOff160K.mp3

Rocked my Exam!!

Just found out that I answered all but one question correctly on my Art History exam today. I was super glad, because even though I have had an Architecture history course prior to this, the instructor is different. So being that she teaches in a little different format, I didn't know quite what to expect. I should note that there were 3 extra credit questions on the exam of artworks we knew nothing about, but had to know the characteristics of each. So I probably missed 4 questions, but saved myself with those extras.

We only have 2 more exams, and then the final, so this was worth quite a bit. Score one for me!! The study group I organized was very haphazard, but it helped just going over everything I had for notes, and comparing them to others was helping me fill in the blanks and making things more familiar to me.

It is very interesting to observe the changes and similarities in style according to area of the artist and prevolent rulers and religion. Religion does bug me a bit though. I didn't want to take a theology class, but due to the artwork that was created, you are kind of forced to. So you learn about Christianity and other popular religions whether you want to or not. So much for seperation of church and state.

Also, I went to my first software workshop in about a year and a half. This one was surprisingly better. There were a few things I didn't know that I learned, instead of just different ways to do commands. I guess it depends on the class, but I consider myself having above average knowledge of Photoshop, and I have used it for over 4 years now. Quite a feat (and a program) to still learn something new.

New RAM & Vegoose baby!!

I just wanted to add that after now creating a live site, and learning some of the basics to change color, pictures, placement, and even a little stationary vs. movement, I am anxious to try more.

I am going to change my live site listing to the suggestions and comments I got in class and try to make a few more improvements when I have a moment or two. Learning this CSS is fun, but very time consuming!!

BTW, I also put new RAM chips in my laptop last Tues. before the class so I could install Adobe Creative Suite 3. I only had 512MB, and it needed 1GB, which is the most I could install that my laptop will recognize. It is over 4 yrs. old and still going... (I am crossing my fingers for another 1 or 2). So if you know anyone that wants to buy a couple of laptop 256MB RAM chips, let me know. They still work great, just not enough for me anymore.

And I am getting very excited for Vegoose coming in less than a month. There is going to be 18 people in our group going to the 2 day show in Vegas, but we are staying for 4. We are trying to come up with a common costume for all of us in the group that is non-gender bias, and isn't too hot during the day. We will be outside for around 12 hrs. for those two days in costume, so I don't want to be a sweaty man if I don't have to be. We have a couple of ideas, but could always use more. Any suggestions? This is probably going to sound stupid, but it's Halloween, so embrace your stupidness. I want to go as old school 1970's NBA players with mesh tank tops and shorts, make a logo for the jerseys, put a nickname on the back for everyone, and top it off with long tube socks (w/ the stripes), and a HUGE afro wig. Can't beat strutting around with 17 of your teammates among 10,000+ people with your shades on. We would be such rock stars.

Can you give me something that tops that?

P.S. - I got my White Stripes tickets refunded today - Still sad....