failed to post monster 64’s story yesterday, but posted it today along with monster 65’s.
back to work.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Saturday, January 20, 2007
two-fer
monster 62’s story went up late last night with monster 63’s just being posted (imagine this post isn’t some 45 minutes into the 20th).
i am seriously considering what it would take to get me to design ranch this year. my wife says i should go. stefan bucher even has a presentation and workshop this year. my first “boss” might even be there — he did create the thing, afterall.
twitterific seems odd. in many ways, it feels more convenient than twitter’s own site, yet i only get the top most poster’s comment in the display (leaving the others requiring a physical click to view, which then renders the updater from not displaying the latest comments) and for the last two days, it has consistently failed to receive/access twitter’s “feed”. if the flash badge that resides on this blog had an entry field (like twitterific’s), i would just use that. for that matter, if twitter’s public page would auto-update on its own, i wouldn’t even need twitterific.
i am seriously considering what it would take to get me to design ranch this year. my wife says i should go. stefan bucher even has a presentation and workshop this year. my first “boss” might even be there — he did create the thing, afterall.
twitterific seems odd. in many ways, it feels more convenient than twitter’s own site, yet i only get the top most poster’s comment in the display (leaving the others requiring a physical click to view, which then renders the updater from not displaying the latest comments) and for the last two days, it has consistently failed to receive/access twitter’s “feed”. if the flash badge that resides on this blog had an entry field (like twitterific’s), i would just use that. for that matter, if twitter’s public page would auto-update on its own, i wouldn’t even need twitterific.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
festival attendance
just found out i am gonna be able to attend sxsw interactive this year. i have lived in austin for quite some time and have never made it. well, this year is my year. finally get to see all them faces to the blogs i read/post to.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
cold literature
austin is frozen. been so for the last two and a half days. might get better tomorrow afternoon. last night, our power went off at around 11:45 pm. normally, this isn’t a bad thing, actually it is quite exciting and can be very fun. however, this time, i happened to be in the middle of playing ffxi with a party (that included my brother-in-law) and was thusly disconnected. moreover, i had yet to post monster 60’s story. luckily, the power came on just long enough for me to make the post using my wife's laptop.
also: posted monster 61’s tale just now.
also: posted monster 61’s tale just now.
Monday, January 15, 2007
.fm listing
my last.fm deal down on the right doesn't look good. looks too simple, a little stupid even. the customize tool for it sucks. really sucks. i don't want to waste time figuring it out to make a decent track listing image. but i have to change it. it's killing me.
---
have been messing with the plug-ins on the right sidebar. last.fm tool is better. twitter tool is too tall - doesn't look i can change that, already tried. none of the invites i sent for twitter seemed to work. would like to use and modify the party tool they offer, makes more sense than the self-tool.
---
fixed
---
for the last 41 days, i have been following the daily monster series being posted by stefan g. bucher. i am not sure when the first comments to these monsters were actual stories about them – creatively birthed by mr. bucher's readers – but i decided to contribute my own, starting with monster 31. since then, i have written stories for 26 monsters (27, if you count the kaltookens separately). some are long. some are short. please feel free to post your own stories. in the meantime, monster 59 gets to the root of the problem.
---
have been messing with the plug-ins on the right sidebar. last.fm tool is better. twitter tool is too tall - doesn't look i can change that, already tried. none of the invites i sent for twitter seemed to work. would like to use and modify the party tool they offer, makes more sense than the self-tool.
---
fixed
---
for the last 41 days, i have been following the daily monster series being posted by stefan g. bucher. i am not sure when the first comments to these monsters were actual stories about them – creatively birthed by mr. bucher's readers – but i decided to contribute my own, starting with monster 31. since then, i have written stories for 26 monsters (27, if you count the kaltookens separately). some are long. some are short. please feel free to post your own stories. in the meantime, monster 59 gets to the root of the problem.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
uh… ya
this blog is looking a tad better than my website. why?
chonsom is having a grand opening, which is different from their soft-opening from last year. nice menu.
---
it’s apparently national delurking week. no one posts here. feel free to keep lurking.
chonsom is having a grand opening, which is different from their soft-opening from last year. nice menu.
---
it’s apparently national delurking week. no one posts here. feel free to keep lurking.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
New Switch
i switched to the new blogger.
we’ll see how this shakes out.
---
a couple of changes right off the start. i write dates as follows: 110|7. this is today’s date. january (1) 10th (10), 2007 (7). so the list of posts are listed first via year (which unfortunately slaps a needless zero in the tens place) and then the drill down shows the months via number.
i changed the color of the "template" to better reflect sitetamashii.com.
a “---” represents an addition and/or edit to a post already made live.
i am still playing.
we’ll see how this shakes out.
---
a couple of changes right off the start. i write dates as follows: 110|7. this is today’s date. january (1) 10th (10), 2007 (7). so the list of posts are listed first via year (which unfortunately slaps a needless zero in the tens place) and then the drill down shows the months via number.
i changed the color of the "template" to better reflect sitetamashii.com.
a “---” represents an addition and/or edit to a post already made live.
i am still playing.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
BeSPeCkeled Adium
It has been a long time since I posted last. Almost forgetting I have a blog seemed like a possibility there. Though I haven't blogged in months, I will not torture you with a small novel.
Item 1: The game DarkGalaxy is a joke and, by far, the worst browser-based, turn-style game out there today. Keeping it short: Poor game mechanics and horrible "customer service" make this game deplorable. The creator both plays and cheats. Well, he may not be actually cheating, which would mean he is just dumber than a post. Both options aren't exactly kudos.
Item 2: I am returning to FFXI to be a Puppetmaster. What a fun time for FFXI. Starting April 18th.
Item 3: I downloaded Adium two days ago. I tried this All-In-One IM client some 5 years ago and it just didn't do it for me. Today, however, it does it for everyone! This program is phenomenal and I highly recommend it to anyone seeking to streamline their IM needs. There are even talks of incorporating IRC (via Colloquy, I think) which would just blow my socks clean off and across the ocean to slap some unwitting European in the face.
If Adium wasn't bad ass enough alone, it certainly kicks ass (ala Chuck Norris style) because of all the Xtras. Want a custom set of status icons? Download it or better yet, make them yourself! There are literally thousands of these Xtras to choose from. I found GiR to my liking as my Dock Icon, initially. Then I thought to myself, “How hard could it be to make my own?” Answer: Not at all. So I took the time and created my own Dock Icon for Adium. I bring you SPeCks DI! So far, I am averaging around 5 downloads an hour of this dock icon set. I will likely work up some other characters for a DI set and will also make a menubar set and status icons for the contact list. What I really would like to tackle is a set of emoticons for SPeCks. That would be killer!
All of the above means, of course, that I have introduced a form of “credible threat” for myself regarding the comic. As everyone who downloads/views the DI (or any other Xtra I might create) would be introduced to SPeCks and would likely click to the website to view the comic. So, I guess this means I need to actually start back on that...
Item 1: The game DarkGalaxy is a joke and, by far, the worst browser-based, turn-style game out there today. Keeping it short: Poor game mechanics and horrible "customer service" make this game deplorable. The creator both plays and cheats. Well, he may not be actually cheating, which would mean he is just dumber than a post. Both options aren't exactly kudos.
Item 2: I am returning to FFXI to be a Puppetmaster. What a fun time for FFXI. Starting April 18th.
Item 3: I downloaded Adium two days ago. I tried this All-In-One IM client some 5 years ago and it just didn't do it for me. Today, however, it does it for everyone! This program is phenomenal and I highly recommend it to anyone seeking to streamline their IM needs. There are even talks of incorporating IRC (via Colloquy, I think) which would just blow my socks clean off and across the ocean to slap some unwitting European in the face.
If Adium wasn't bad ass enough alone, it certainly kicks ass (ala Chuck Norris style) because of all the Xtras. Want a custom set of status icons? Download it or better yet, make them yourself! There are literally thousands of these Xtras to choose from. I found GiR to my liking as my Dock Icon, initially. Then I thought to myself, “How hard could it be to make my own?” Answer: Not at all. So I took the time and created my own Dock Icon for Adium. I bring you SPeCks DI! So far, I am averaging around 5 downloads an hour of this dock icon set. I will likely work up some other characters for a DI set and will also make a menubar set and status icons for the contact list. What I really would like to tackle is a set of emoticons for SPeCks. That would be killer!
All of the above means, of course, that I have introduced a form of “credible threat” for myself regarding the comic. As everyone who downloads/views the DI (or any other Xtra I might create) would be introduced to SPeCks and would likely click to the website to view the comic. So, I guess this means I need to actually start back on that...
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
In Review
Last week was a bust with regard to the SPeCks item of the week and also my attempt at picking up the comic again. I got the summary and script done and then was absolutely hammered at work (on top of being hired full-time!). I think the plan is sound, it just needs less stuff going on for me to complete it. I was also preparing for the weekend with the ADDY show and Carnaval.
My logo garnered a bronze ADDY, amongst six other agencies who also got bronze in the category. The "a"s are really quite different from my previous win (2001). They are no longer made of lead and they resemble a condensed Helvetica "a" rather than the wide version. I am not sure the process to make these new "a"s, but they are heavy. The old ones were moderate in weight, they were just bigger. These new ones seem like they have extra gravity applied to their diminutive frames. And solid as granite these bad boys. Oh, and did I mention shiny? I can see my reflection in this thing. It's awesome!
Carnaval was an absolute blast. We had never gone before and were offered tickets by a good friend who also happened to be the crafter of our costumes. The costumes looked spectacular and my wife looked spectacular in costume. I think it might have been hyped up a bit, but it was still quite an experience.
Add to all that, my new addiction. Most know that I play FFXI. Certainly not as religiously as when it first came out, but I still find 2-3 hours a week to sit down and partake in my new sedentary lifestyle of fishing on the game. It's much easier and I can pick up the game at any time and am not on a set time limit. Anyway, I have found my choice in video-games leaning to the non-action packed variety. Enter DarkGalaxy. This is a turn-based, browser game set in the cold reaches of an unknown universe. Turn-based games are those that follow the "something happens once an hour" guidelines. And with a queue enabled in this game, you can set up to -not- play for 12 hours. So, the game is currently at Turn 210 (that's right – 210 hours have passed) and I am doing fairly well.
I am working on a plan to push out two SPeCks products this week as well as going ahead and scripting the next page whilst finishing up production on last week's page for the comic. I am hoping for release of last week's page by the end of this week with Monday seeing this week's page (which would be on schedule). Will this all happen? Stay tuned…
My logo garnered a bronze ADDY, amongst six other agencies who also got bronze in the category. The "a"s are really quite different from my previous win (2001). They are no longer made of lead and they resemble a condensed Helvetica "a" rather than the wide version. I am not sure the process to make these new "a"s, but they are heavy. The old ones were moderate in weight, they were just bigger. These new ones seem like they have extra gravity applied to their diminutive frames. And solid as granite these bad boys. Oh, and did I mention shiny? I can see my reflection in this thing. It's awesome!
Carnaval was an absolute blast. We had never gone before and were offered tickets by a good friend who also happened to be the crafter of our costumes. The costumes looked spectacular and my wife looked spectacular in costume. I think it might have been hyped up a bit, but it was still quite an experience.
Add to all that, my new addiction. Most know that I play FFXI. Certainly not as religiously as when it first came out, but I still find 2-3 hours a week to sit down and partake in my new sedentary lifestyle of fishing on the game. It's much easier and I can pick up the game at any time and am not on a set time limit. Anyway, I have found my choice in video-games leaning to the non-action packed variety. Enter DarkGalaxy. This is a turn-based, browser game set in the cold reaches of an unknown universe. Turn-based games are those that follow the "something happens once an hour" guidelines. And with a queue enabled in this game, you can set up to -not- play for 12 hours. So, the game is currently at Turn 210 (that's right – 210 hours have passed) and I am doing fairly well.
I am working on a plan to push out two SPeCks products this week as well as going ahead and scripting the next page whilst finishing up production on last week's page for the comic. I am hoping for release of last week's page by the end of this week with Monday seeing this week's page (which would be on schedule). Will this all happen? Stay tuned…
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Study
Now SPeCks can really be on your mind even when I haven’t produced any new pages to the comic since… what… August? Proudly presenting the first SPeCks hat available for purchase. It’s like a window into your mind. Spacious…
I also thought I might show a little behind-the-scenes action for the comic, by way of one of the character study sheets. And who better to do that with than with Bob. Originally, Bob was to be the absolute main character with Patrick as his “sidekick” (think Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza). As it turns out, the story (yes, I am actually still scripting) has Patrick as kind of the main character. Both Specks are the bulk of the comic, with one playing off the other, so I am not saying you will see one more than the other, just that Patrick seems to be the title-character at the moment. Anyway, enough of that - here’s Bob:
I also thought I might show a little behind-the-scenes action for the comic, by way of one of the character study sheets. And who better to do that with than with Bob. Originally, Bob was to be the absolute main character with Patrick as his “sidekick” (think Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza). As it turns out, the story (yes, I am actually still scripting) has Patrick as kind of the main character. Both Specks are the bulk of the comic, with one playing off the other, so I am not saying you will see one more than the other, just that Patrick seems to be the title-character at the moment. Anyway, enough of that - here’s Bob:
Thursday, January 19, 2006
“a”
Congratulations! Your agency has produced award winning advertising for the following: theLOGO
Austin Advertising Federation.
Austin Advertising Federation.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Gaze
Item number 8 hits the SPeCks store shelves. What is it this time? A mini button for your bag, purse, wrist band, wallet, random point on your body…
I had so many other thoughts in my head, but they managed to escape. Lousy thoughts…
I had so many other thoughts in my head, but they managed to escape. Lousy thoughts…
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Sticking
Real quick post to announce this week's SPeCks item is up!
A sticker (oval) with the whole gang (and some you may, or may not, know). Kind of a teaser, I suppose. Who is that one with the glasses?
In other news: Jim Kersey is working on his online comic website. It is killer, folks. Killer!
A sticker (oval) with the whole gang (and some you may, or may not, know). Kind of a teaser, I suppose. Who is that one with the glasses?
In other news: Jim Kersey is working on his online comic website. It is killer, folks. Killer!
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Infinite Fancy
Wow! 2006 is here and today marks 8 years with my lovely wife. Our “infinity” year. Just fantastic! To commemorate the occasion, we did our annual What-a-burger meal at lunch and just yesterday we got matching infinity tattoos. My first, her third. Thought it would hurt something fierce (crosses over the spine area, just below my neck) but it turned out all right. I look forward to the rest of forever.
I have also managed to keep my new year's resolution of “one SPeCks product a week” and have posted the latest item: Light Switch Plate. Suzi is the star on this product and I am pleased with how it looks. Next week: another t-shirt.
Elsewhere: Once in a while, I take the time to pull into a parking spot in reverse so the front of the car is facing out. Who knew it had a name: Fancy Parking.
I have also managed to keep my new year's resolution of “one SPeCks product a week” and have posted the latest item: Light Switch Plate. Suzi is the star on this product and I am pleased with how it looks. Next week: another t-shirt.
Elsewhere: Once in a while, I take the time to pull into a parking spot in reverse so the front of the car is facing out. Who knew it had a name: Fancy Parking.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Sale
Today starts a pseudo-New Year’s resolution: SPeCks merchandising. I am attempting to make one (1) item a week until I fill up my CafePress store of the same name (here).
As you may, or may not, know, I have already put up some items for sell (3 shirts of the same “scene” and a wall clock). Today, I took the first step to this resolution and put up a mug (the small mug). Later this week, I will attempt to finalize the cover to the wall calendar.
Next week: Light Switch Cover. And January on the calendar (and Feb. if I get off my ass). Oh, and page 4 of Issue 3 this weekend (again… laziness aside).
As you may, or may not, know, I have already put up some items for sell (3 shirts of the same “scene” and a wall clock). Today, I took the first step to this resolution and put up a mug (the small mug). Later this week, I will attempt to finalize the cover to the wall calendar.
Next week: Light Switch Cover. And January on the calendar (and Feb. if I get off my ass). Oh, and page 4 of Issue 3 this weekend (again… laziness aside).
Friday, December 16, 2005
ADDY Avatars
So, I entered the local ADDY’s for the 3rd time (as my own designer) today. This round is for my new logo. Hopefully it will get somewhere… It costs 95-clams to slap a piece into that show (non-member rate) and that, for me, is costly. And becoming a member isn’t exactly on the cheap either. Luckily, I don’t churn out work often enough to throw at award shows. I s’pose that’s another issue altogether…
I really must apologize about the lack of SPeCks. Not much to say other than I just need to do ’em. Not having the calendar ready kinda bums me out too. Was really hoping to spring a couple of those on family/friends for Christmas. Unless I whip out 12 months’ worth of art tonight, that’s not happening.
Elsewhere: After reading Mark Boulton’s Journal (quite a bit lately, actually) I was “introduced” to Gravatars. So spiffy, I now have one of my own!
I really must apologize about the lack of SPeCks. Not much to say other than I just need to do ’em. Not having the calendar ready kinda bums me out too. Was really hoping to spring a couple of those on family/friends for Christmas. Unless I whip out 12 months’ worth of art tonight, that’s not happening.
Elsewhere: After reading Mark Boulton’s Journal (quite a bit lately, actually) I was “introduced” to Gravatars. So spiffy, I now have one of my own!
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Crawl
SPeCks has started to chew at my mind quite a bit lately. Most notably: the CafePress store. Turns out someone purchased a t-shirt. Very neat. I wish I could justify the expense of "owning" a premium shop, but right now, I am just sticking with the basic store. Of course, that means, only one version of one item for now (aka: one mug option, one clock option, one cap option, etc). Ultimately, when I fill up the store and actually generate more than $5 a month, I will move to the premium side.
In other, related news, I have begun work on testing my options for an animated version of SPeCks — done as a .GIF animation. The first test opened this post. I have an above average amount of excitement into this path for SPeCks. However, I want to continue to populate the non-animated version of the comic. Currently, it is faster to produce and I want to grow and mature the SPeCks universe more before trying to take on (in a full-time capacity) something of an animated series. For now, I see the "animated series" as little one offs, or one-liners, starring our little web-crawling friends.
I am working on producing a 2006 calendar for SPeCks that will be available on the CafePress store, but a lot of stuff has me tired in the evenings, so I can't really promise anything. Baby steps… or a crawl, rather.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Animated
One thing that I have always enjoyed, and have mentioned in previous posts, is working with animated GIFs. There are no better examples than the warehouse animations created by and for IconFactory's homepage.
I took a deeper plunge into this medium of art (and sequential art, for that matter) with the creation of the FFXI mini episode. To be clear, and for all the asshats out there, every aspect of that animated GIF was either recreated and/or completely created by myself - the background was derived from an animated avatar "created" by someone else, I merely used it as the template for my animation.
Recently, I have also been involved with making animated web banners again. So there are some new techniques for frame-by-frame animation that I am discovering and/or learning. I use Adobe ImageReady for the animating and Adobe Photoshop for the "layout" of the animations. When I can figure out a good method of posting tutorials in this blog, I will do so.
I have ideas on converting SPeCks into an animated comic using GIFs as the method of delivery. In order for that to happen, I suppose I should really hunker down and come up with a plan to have SPeCks "episodes" come out on a consistent basis.
I took a deeper plunge into this medium of art (and sequential art, for that matter) with the creation of the FFXI mini episode. To be clear, and for all the asshats out there, every aspect of that animated GIF was either recreated and/or completely created by myself - the background was derived from an animated avatar "created" by someone else, I merely used it as the template for my animation.
Recently, I have also been involved with making animated web banners again. So there are some new techniques for frame-by-frame animation that I am discovering and/or learning. I use Adobe ImageReady for the animating and Adobe Photoshop for the "layout" of the animations. When I can figure out a good method of posting tutorials in this blog, I will do so.
I have ideas on converting SPeCks into an animated comic using GIFs as the method of delivery. In order for that to happen, I suppose I should really hunker down and come up with a plan to have SPeCks "episodes" come out on a consistent basis.
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