Stupid Camera Tricks

with hilarious results. Otto as complete joy.


BTW, I wouldn't recommend sifting through old photos if you're me, which you aren't. Midlife crisis in 3... 2... 1...

Exercise in Utility -or- MadamimadaM

In one of my college design classes with Dr. Jim Watson back in the day, there was an assignment that I remember spending a lot of time on. It was an ambigram of my name. I know that my brain is wired for shape (D's in math, A's in Geometry) and I found the assignment enjoyable, even though my solution was far from professional. Now I am a professional and Dr. Watson's Blog has a nice section on ambigrams so I thought I'd give it another go. The assignment points out that doing ambigrams as a practice will:
• Enhance creative problem solving skills.
• Explore letterform relationships: see letterforms as shapes to be manipulated and abused.
• Appreciate the complexity of alphabet letterforms.
• Determine appropriate and pleasing layout compositions.

So with that in mind, and with the knowledge that printer and patriot Ben Franklin used to do Magic Squares just for fun, I came up with this solution:

I did it for fun and practice so I did not follow all the specs but it only took me about 30 minutes. That's a fraction of the time I spent on the original assignment and my present solution is far FAR more fleshed and serious. Dare I say "Professional?" Whatever it was, it was a welcome distraction to the slog of wading through code that I have been doing for the last 3 days. What's extra fun is looking at the completed piece, I can see a possible solution of making all 6 letters the same shape just rotated and mirrored while retaining readability. Abuse that letterform. ABUSE IT!

I'm popular on the internet

Within 48 hours of posting the Collection of Tall Paul videos on Youtube, I got a write-up at The Lost Ogle, a views total of more than 200 and my first youtube subscriber. The only better write-up would have been for Fark.com, but that would probably involve the dumbass, assinine or FAIL tag, so I'll take The Lost Ogle any day.

Classic

I got the opportunity to digitize a collection of classic "Tall Paul" Meade Insurance commercials from the 80's and upload them to Youtube for posterity and delight. I loved em all, and the jingle is iconic. Here's my favorite, which doesn't include the jingle, but a damn good re-interpretation of the "Old El Paso" song:

Just search for "Tall Paul Meade" on youtube if you want to see the rest.

Infinite Improbablility

Beautiful, charming and devastatingly intelligent.

Act V. Break it down.

Eleminternet -or- Baker Street Irregular

To illustrate the greatness of what you can find on the internet, I link this excellent and easy find. It's a collection of copyright free Sherlock Holmes radio shows starring my favorite team Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, as well as Sir Sir John Geilgud and Sir Ralph Richardson along with many other actors.
Basil Rathbone is my favorite Sherlock. When I think of Sherlock, Basil's voice, face and mannerisms all come to mind. I do wish Nigel Bruce's portrayal of Watson was a little less vacuous, but the personal friendship and camaraderie between Basil and Nigel shines through and only adds to the validity of the characters. I heard a story where they would both intentionally walk on each others lines during the live broadcast in the attempt to throw one another off, which usually only served to throw off the ancillary actors instead.
My favorite parts always seem to be the initial meeting of the client, in which Sherlock seemingly divines deeply personal aspects of the patron, only to immediately reveal the divination only to be a higher attention to detail, which all of us could have if we just practiced it. An intelligent character who challenges others to be intelligent. Ah, bliss.
Although the collection is far from complete, (wiki says that Basil and Nigel made 200 radio shows alone) there are many hours available. Download or just listen online. The copyright has expired, to the benefit of all of us. The game's afoot.

In addendum, there will be a new Sherlock Holmes movie released in 2009 which stars Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock and Jude Law as Watson. Although the title roll going to Robert Downey Jr. is very encouraging, it also lists Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, which means there will be a love story in it. Does everything that Hackywood do have to have a fuckin love story in it? Sherlock was about the game of solving the crime, not getting the girl. If you had to put one in, it should have been Watson since Sherlock was, as a point of character, a confirmed bachelor, even counting Irene Adler. His interest in her was more of criminal intelligence than sexual lust.
As immediate evidence that the internet can provide embedded in this very text, have a listen to the first 2 minutes (or the whole thing) of this read of A Scandal in Bohemia read by the great Basil Rathbone himself.

Don't screw this one up, Hollywood. Please, he said to deaf ears.

Animator Chuck Jones

As a spotlight, I could mention his academy awards, his being voted 4 of the top 5 Top 20 Cartoons, or How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Personally, I could mention how I can spot his style as easy as I can hear George Harrison riffs in a song, or how he defined Tom and Jerry over all the animators that did T&J over the years. I could also go the easy route and post videos of "What's Opera Doc" and "Duck Dodgers in the 24th & 1/2 Century". Instead, to let him speak for himself and his style to speak for my adoration, I post two of the more obscure (if anything Chuck did commercially was obscure) but no less loved cartoons.
Ralph Phillips's Boyhood Daze

and A to Zzzzz

Deep Thoughtentosh or G42

It's true.

and while I'm at it...

I bet it doesn't beat "Shawn"

...but awesome.

Bye Bye Bettie

The queen is dead. Long live the queen.

Bebop Dream Team

The internet rumors are circling about a live-action Cowboy Bebop movie with Keanu Reeves as Spike. Since I have neither have any desire to see Bebop live action, nor any faith in Hollywood to do anything right, (they have, they've just done much to much wrong) I offer here my dream team for a live-action Cowboy Bebop movie.

Spike Spiegel - Christian Bale

He's a very good actor. He know action. The three things that the character calls for is Martial Arts (Batman Begins), Slight of Hand (The Prestige) and enjoyment of a serious situation (American Psycho). He's got the look and the voice and he'd be an ultimately better choice than Mr. Men Don't Leave. In the research, I've also seen Hugh Jackman's name floated, which would work.

Jet Black - Ron Perlman

The perfect look, the perfect voice, and if he's not given one-liners to say, Hellboy isn't that far off from Jet.

Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV - Ivana Baquero

She's an excellent actress. When she played in Pan's Labyrinth, she was the right age and looked just like her, sans the red hair. That was two years ago but I bet she can still play younger.

Faye Valentine - Christina Ricci

Two Words: Ghost and World. Two more words: Fear and Loathing. Plus she already played Trixie so she's got experience in Anime to live-action.

Julia - Uma Thurman

Perfect.

Vicious - David Bowie

Yes. THE David Bowie. Not A David Bowie. Ya, ok. So I got lazy at the end and went for the easy one. Still...