Everything is Satisfactual
Our family vacation to Disneyworld was a whirlwind tour of the four main parks packed into two days. Here's the movie (Quicktime, 19.6 MB). It's pretty big, so if you run into problems downloading, right-click the link and save the movie on your computer. If it's not showing up now, try back in a few hours. The highlight was our plan to get Andrew picked as an extra in the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular show like I did three years ago. On our day at Disney-MGM Studios, Andrew wore his neon yellow Pac Man shirt and I wore my bright orange Princeton Tiger shirt. We went insane when the casting director asked the packed auditorium for volunteers, and sure enough, "you in the Pac Man shirt" got selected. You'll see Andrew's incredible death scene in the movie. Tower of Terror's plummeting elevator makes it the best ride overall, but Epcot's new Mission: Space simulates a shuttle launch and trip to Mars. Any ride with sick bags in the cockpit guarantees awesomeness. Enjoy the video.
Monday, May 31 at 9:15 PM
M A Y 0 4
Andrew moves into his new apartment and hangs out in Baltimore. Dave runs into problems at the recording studio. Everyone weighs in on President Bush.
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride Is No More
This will be the only update this week (from me, at least) because I leave for Disneyworld on Thursday afternoon. Expect a movie of the Werner family's adventures to premiere here next Tuesday, June 1. This is about the fifth or sixth time I've been to Disneyworld, but my first time staying in the Contemporary (the hotel with the monorail running through it). Our last visit filled up two weeks, including time at Universal Studios and visiting our Uncle in Cocoa Beach. The highlight of that trip was being picked as an extra for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular at Disney-MGM Studios. Shaking Indy's hand made my life complete. We've also been to Disneyland and Disneyworld Paris once each. I don't care what anyone says; Disneyworld Paris was awesome - more thrilling rides (Space Mountain had loops), beer, and a cooler castle for Sleeping Beauty with a secret underground dragon lair. My favorite ride in Disneyworld Florida is the relatively new Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, where you shoot aliens with laser cannons mounted on your cart as it rides through space. I'm probably just saying that because I got the high score every time, thanks to years of video game experience. So this weekend's visit will be short but exciting.
Critiques are already creeping up in a few weeks, but I'm practically done with several projects already (partly in preparation for the trip). This quarter's few deliverables will be the Vonnegut trilogy of book covers, spreads and covers for a computer music magazine called Sifr, a 12-page retirement home booklet and an interactive Flash game. I've been trying to learn Flash MX hardcore by reading a training book in addition to taking the class; the key word there being trying. My group is filming some faux television commercials this week for our Brand Strategy class. Work at Imagine Design has been going great. There is no better fast food sandwich on this planet than Wendy's Spicy Chicken Fillet, although they changed its ingredients recently (I liked the old one better). Have a great week!
Sunday, May 23 at 10:48 PM
Goodbye Blue Monday
I recently read Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle and Breakfast of Champions. All three are excellent, quick reads that test the standards of structure and narration in literature. Slaughterhouse is the best of the three, refreshingly depicting a wartime story through time travel and aliens. Ice IX is a destructive form of water in Cradle, where anything it touches immediately freezes solid - like mud, the human bloodstream, or the ocean. Vonnegut himself becomes a character in Breakfast and breaks the story up with hand-drawn sketches. I mean, you could theoretically read all three books in one day and still have time to create their book covers for a publication class that night.
Thursday, May 20 at 8:19 PM
Will This Demo Ever Be Finished?
Monday's eight hour recording studio session unfortunately was a disappointing experience. Other than computers crashing and fingers bleeding, the songs I was recording were not the songs in my head. Whether it was rushed playing, mixing, or bias towards previously recorded versions, I left the studio frustrated and on the verge of just calling it quits on the demo. On the positive side, maybe it was a mixed blessing. If everything works out, I'll visit Eric Espiritu in Boston during my break at the end of June. Between the stuff I recorded at home, Monday's session files and Eric's help, we might be able to salvage something decent or create something entirely new. All I know is that if things don't work out with Eric, that's the final nail in the coffin. Sigh.
In happier news, I did a freelance job this weekend creating a 16 minute DVD by editing down 6 hours of interview footage. I filmed a few title sequences and threw in some music and effects similar to the okaysamurai movies. The client was extremely pleased with the results, so it sounds like I'll be working for them every two months or so. Film and animation production is becoming very intriguing to me.
Wednesday, May 19 at 1:05 PM
My Likes and Dislikes: A Look at Cicadas and the Presidency
Am I the only one on the entire east coast that thinks that cicadas are the coolest? They are a constant reminder of the carefree days of my youth when Dave and I would run around and tear their wings off. Also, anything called "Brood X" must be awesome. It just sounds like a 1970's B-movie updated for the new millennium with a little help from the 24th letter of the alphabet. I know that the X is intended as a roman numeral but every time I see it I can't help but think that it's for x-treme, much like the new Gatorade. Sure they're ugly and loud and creepy but only in a totally awesome way. And let's be honest, the whole concept of sitting underground sucking on tree roots for 17 years only to emerge for a month before they all die is pretty cool. Combine that with the fact that basically everything in nature wants to devour these things while they are above ground and yet they still survive because there's something like eleventy-bajillion of them. I find them fascinating and engaging on both a scientific level and on a five-year old level.
George Bush on the other hand, I am not cool with. Between Dave and Mike most of the big points have been made about what a tremendous job he's done at getting the entire world to hate us as well as stirring up dissent in our own country. One of the things that is just killing me is watching how well Sen. John McCain is handling the situation. You mean we could have had this guy as our president right now instead? Well crap.
Although intended as a comedy show, I cannot stress enough what a good job the Daily Show does at actual investigation of the issues and problems in the country. I watch other news shows too and they just seem to regurgitate whatever they get from press releases without looking further. I suppose that when you are a fake news show and don't have the pressure to be objective you can get away with a lot more but still, that show does a better job than any real news show I'm aware of. Just my two cents, oh, and if you are going to vote for Bush then you're an idiot.
Cicadas: 87/100
Bush: 35/100
McCain: 96/100
Friday, May 14 at 8:12 AM
Focusin Helped Me Realize That Major League Baseball Was Spying On Us
I was in Boston the other day (cheap plane tickets rule) and I had the opportunity to check out a rock band called Focusin. I had heard a lot about the band because a guy I lived with freshman year plays bass for them, and I have downloaded about 6 of their songs off the website to give them a listen. Focusin has good hooks, original songs (as opposed to almost everything on the radio), and their lead singer has a unique voice with quite a bit of power that gives the band an almost alt rock feel. Their album quality songs are very good. They typically have a good, hard-driving baseline, a catchy lead guitar and some solid drumming, all backing up the great singing. A personal favorite of mine is "Red Zone," although I'm not sure if they have it on the website anymore. One downside to the band, when I saw them in person, was that they seemed to trail off at the end of their songs. It was probably a function of the venue, however, as they seemed to be pretty impressive live when they won the national Hard Rock Cafe Battle of the Bands and opened for 50,000 people at the Rolling Rock Town Fair in Pittsburgh, PA. I give this band three platypi, four unicorns (mythical creatures are extra points), a stegasaurus and a paramecium. If you like rock/alt rock, check out Focusin at focusinmusic.com.
Thursday, May 13 at 7:07 PM
Dear Dave/Linden and OKSamurai readers
Dave mentioned that I was everyone's favorite crazy republican awhile ago, and of course I am. People love me and I am crazy and republican, however, he did make one erroneous comment. He won't be cancelling me out in November, partially because I will be voting in NY, which makes my vote virtually irrelevant since Kerry will win (damn electoral college!) and partially because I'll be voting for Kerry. Although Dave gets his news from the Daily Show, I get my news from Drudgereport.com, CNN, Fox, Rush Limbaugh, BBC, and many other places, including Al Jazeera on occasion. I consider myself politically savvy and probably more well-informed than 99% of Americans. I also consider myself a conservative/libertarian, and although that is arguably a republican stance, G.W. Bush does not represent me. This war in Iraq is personally vindictive nation building that has turned into a quagmire. I agree with everything Dave wrote about that. I also don't believe in nation building. As a conservative, I believe in small government, which "W" campaigned on. Since he became president, however, he has created an entirely new branch of the government (homeland security) and ballooned the deficit to record highs. He has promoted the destruction of civil liberties and personal privacy, and as an inner-city teacher, I can (and Dave can) personally attest to the fact that his underfunded "No Child Left Behind" Act is a blueprint for leaving EVERY child behind. He also is obviously not in control of his staff. Rumsfeld withholds information from him, Powell talks to Bob Woodward behind his back, Tenet doesn't mention in August 2001 that there is credible evidence that Muslim extremists are learning to fly airplanes in the US. So, ditto to what Dave said, and I hope he cancels out some other Bush voters, like Rupert Murdoch. Before this website becomes political (I don't want my rants to turn people off to Dave's fantastic work) I do want to say that I'll be following shortly with a rating of a rock band that I saw in Boston, named Focusin (if you get the Simpsons reference, you get three gold stars). Needless to say, I'll use the trademarked animal rating system. Watch out, I may even throw in a protist.
at 6:49 PM
Dear President Bush,
My opinion on your presidency isn't that important since I get my news primarily from The Daily Show. I'll catch an occasional Wolf Blitzer Report too, but that's only if Comedy Central is playing a MadTV rerun I've already watched. I saw the video of Nicholas Berg's execution on Tuesday night, and it was undoubtedly the most horrific thing I've ever seen. It's hard for me to imagine hating someone so much as to kill them, regardless of the method. Although terrorism has always existed around the world, 9/11 got America directly involved in the fight. The situation in Iraq is now a complete mess - no weapons of mass destruction found, soldiers dying daily, this apparent "freedom" without a strong government to enforce it, and now the recent prisoner abuses. You didn't listen to the weapons inspectors or anything the U.N. said, and you started a war that never needed to be fought in the first place. We know for a fact that North Korea has weapons of mass destruction - why not go after that spoke of the "axis of evil" instead? We obviously haven't solved the terrorist problem, nor will we ever if we continue creating reasons to hate America. Even if you physically got rid of every major terrorist leader on the planet, you have burned an negative image of America into minds around the world. The long term effects will certainly come back to haunt us.
On the home front, the idea of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages is among your worst. Whether someone is for or against it, the Supreme Court needs to decide the correct path on this issue, and they need to do it soon. This will possibly be the major civil rights battle of my lifetime. I know where you're coming from - I used to call things "gay" as a derogatory term and think homosexuality was morally wrong. Then I became friends with several gays and lesbians, and their faces appeared in my head whenever I heard discrimination because of their sexual orientation. My perception completely changed after spending time with them. Marriage is a joke in modern society - people rush in and out of it, and the permanence of vows is repeatedly broken. If you're going to start talking about the sacredness of family and marriage, start with the divorce rate. If you continue seeking your constitutional amendment, don't stop there - break the separation of church and state and change the "all men are created equal" part of the Declaration of Independence while you're at it.
These are only my opinions, but I just wanted to let you know why I disagree with your domestic and foreign policies. The truth is that many people agree with you, according to the callers I heard on Rush Limbaugh today while stuck in traffic. Many people could give valid arguments contradicting what I just wrote, and I respect that. It's fortunate that the presidential election is only six months away - it couldn't have come at a more divided time. There are a few out there who think that it doesn't matter who sits in the White House; that everyone's the same. You successfully proved them dead wrong - would Al Gore have invaded Iraq? We'll see how America feels in November. I think you know who I'll be voting for.
Wednesday, May 12 at 9:07 PM
Nintendo Makes A Comeback
This week marks the huge annual E3 show in Los Angeles, where video game companies show off their future releases. I haven't played my Gamecube in about two months, but an announcement made today might make me pick up the controller again. Nintendo surprised everyone and showed a new, realistic Legend of Zelda game that looks more like Lord of the Rings than the Disney cartoon style of the last game, Windwaker. For those of you who aren't familiar with video games, Zelda is considered by many critics to be the greatest video game franchise of all time. The new game looks absolutely incredible, and joined up with exclusive titles like Resident Evil 4 and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Nintendo could gain some ground in the fiercely competitive video game wars. From an advertising perspective, Nintendo is finally shedding its kiddie image and growing up. The new dual-screen Game Boy system was revealed as well, and it looks promising with wireless connectivity and voice recognition capabilities.
I've tried to explain what art direction is on this site several times, but this article does a much better job. It might give you a better idea of what exactly I'm studying here.
Tuesday, May 11 at 9:25 PM
That Explains The Multicolored Grass
I finished two new 16x20 paintings today using oils, spraypaint, india ink and permanent marker on canvas. Both depict cartoon robots; 012 interacts with nature and 037 tests his photon cannon out. The splatters were done by dropping paint off of our balcony. Click the images to the left for full versions.
Sunday, May 9 at 7:36 AM
Coming Attractions
There's a lot coming up on the OKSMM horizon. It's been mentioned before that there will be two studio-quality Linden Gilliaert songs by the end of the month, with some possible remix help courtesy of Eric Espiritu. I'm actually trying to work out a visit to Eric in Boston at some point. Hopefully some concerts will follow soon after that, which should lead to new store merchandise and more music-related updates. At the beginning of next month, expect a movie about a weekend Disneyworld vacation with the Werner family to celebrate Sarah's birthday. A new interview is coming up with Matthew Burtner, my former instructor from UVA who has recently invented a new incarnation of his "metasaxophone" - a sax with MIDI controllers that can add distortion and expand the sound waves. He's doing concerts and presentations in Italy right now (rough life), but I'll use the interview as the cover story for a magazine layout in school. Next month will bring my first Flash cartoon: an interactive music game similar to the Concrete World project from Matthew's class. I'm also working on some new oil paintings with cartoon robots, a more professional online portfolio and various freelance projects. We're approaching two years online next month, which is much longer than I ever thought my attention span could last.
Public service announcement: I registered to vote in Jo-Ja yesterday at rockthevote.com, easy as pie and twice as tasty. It will be worth it just to cancel out the vote of everybody's favorite crazy republican, Mike Ferenczy.
Thursday, May 6 at 9:10 PM
Hamburger Helper's Cousin
Stuck in Atlanta traffic last week, the Arby's Oven Mitt walked by my car and waved. Not with his entire body, just the thumb. Every single driver on that street, myself included, waved back. His goofy, permanent polyurethane smile brightened everyone's day as my eyes followed his sidewalk march via rear view mirror. Arby's spent $85 million to create Oven Mitt (voiced by Tom Arnold). Although his ads aren't nearly as funny as the current Burger King office spots, he has definitely helped Arby's gain name recognition. There has been some backlash, but you wouldn't have known it on a Thursday afternoon trapped on Howell Mill Road. He's not another Taco Bell Chiuaua or Domino's Noid - my guess is that Oven Mitt will be around for quite a while.
Thanks to Andrew for breaking up two full months of just me writing. What has everyone else been up to? Mike is in his final months of teaching in Baltimore, Don is finishing up his assignment in West Virginia, Eugene loves the Robinson Class of 98 rumor website, Jeff Chin is busy with his site and finding a new crib, Jeff Ma swore to me tonight that he'd start up his website soon, and Eric just played a successful first show with The Teenage Symphonies.
Monday, May 3 at 10:18 PM
Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner
I'm writing this in the bedroom of my new apartment thanks to Comcast cable internet and an installation guy who called me "boss" no less than a hundred times in five minutes. I would have written sooner about my new place but along with the Internet I also got a promotional offer of digital cable and it is quite hard to think about doing anything else when the blockbuster 'Kate and Leopold' is playing thirty times a day. The new place is at the south end of Arlington only a couple of exits away from my job on 395. It's a corner apartment on the top floor so I've only got to worry about annoying neighbors directly underneath me. This weekend though I headed out of town to visit the charm city, Baltimore.
My friend Kelly from work went to college at Loyola up in B-more along with one of Dave's friends from PC, Anne Marie who is best friends with one of Kelly's roommates. Anne Marie was going to be in town just for the weekend on a Portfolio Center recruiting trip so we decided to head up and party. Just in case you're not convinced yet that it's a small world after all Kelly's other roommate used to date the lead singer of the Bureau which played with us at one of the Dance Marathons at UVA. Their guitarist Jordan, who was good friends with Dave, was actually at a party at Kelly's place that I was also at a few months ago. It's all a little bit eerie.
The weekend's shenanigans started off with a barbecue at the same apartment complex that I had been to less than a year ago for dinner with a couple of Dave's fellow TFA members. After all of these coincidences, when I close my eyes I can actually see the little animatronic children dancing around singing it's a small world after all. I kept the Werner tradition alive and brought bacon and was pleased to see that someone else brought a watermelon, prompting everyone to quote Dirty Dancing for the next hour. I represented JMU by doing what I spent four years of college learning and perfecting, playing flip cup.
After playing 'She's Wearing the Yellow Dress' and a game of Thumper we headed to yet another familiar place, Kelly's bar; the site of numerous TFA karaoke nights. Not too long after a pretty dreadful performance of a Cyndi Lauper tune Tammer and Charlie from 103 Swashington St. showed up to have a few drinks. Also stopping by later in the night was Jason and Sarah along with one of Jason's friends from out of town. Nick and Mike were both out of town so a follow up trip or two to Baltimore is in order before their school year ends.
We left the next morning singing along to the Dixie Chicks all the way back to DC.
Sunday, May 2 at 8:28 PM
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