My First Photo Friday

I've decided to give Photo Friday a whirl. The word of the week is SOFT. Not a very original photograph, but I can't think of any people who are softer :)

-TTFN
Tony

The Daring Fat Man on the Diving Board

Addendum, August 3, 2007: I've added the Youtube Link to the whole film, as people seem to be finding the image out there on the web:



Friends and neighbors, the Illustration Friday word of the week is DARING. Here's an animation I made a few years ago, Herman Takes a Dive.This was my first 3ds Max endeavor. It's very rough & very toony, but I love it. I have production notes on the Animations Page at EgotisticalProductions.com. Enjoy!

As far as False Idols is coming along… it's a coming. In addition to creating a nifty control room for the rocket, I've actually purchased a decent astronaut figure for Poser for about $35. I'm doing quite a bit of detail / texture mapping work on it- it was pretty much medium-poly: good for medium shots, but the edges stood out in the close-ups. All hail mesh-smooth.

This past weekend I had the honor of watching a performance by Craig J. Quack (and friends') comedy troupe, The Gentlemen's Rotary Auxiliary. Despite a few technical snafus, a pants-wetting experience was had by all. "Spoooooooooooooooooooooooon!"

-TTFN
Tony

Illustration Friday, the Movie

As I don't have enough confusing things and projects going on in my life right now, (running a small job, writing a book, putting a friend's home movies on DVD, being a husband / dad) I've decided to make a small (3-5) minute animation based on two of my Illustration Friday entries, Ancient and Travel. Right now the working title is False Idols. The above image is from the establishing shot. As I go, I'll be putting wmv's of certain shots on Egotistical Production's animation page. (No, I don't have it there yet. I'll let you know.)

The establishing shot is from another earlier animation, Armageddon (the Planet X Version.) I had done this before in Imagine, (do they even make that program anymore?) and I briefly toyed with re-making it with 3ds Max. It was pretty, but I lost interest as it was something I had done before, cheesy looking as it was. I'm not George Lucas, folks. In short, I replaced the asteroid in the original animation with the rocket ship from my Ancient picture and added a moon.

The original is very colorful. I de-saturated it a little bit and added the grainy diffuse glow. It works, as the rocket ship and suit are something out of a Ray Bradbury (huzzah huzzah) short story.

Right now I'm rendering it at DVD resolution (720 x 480.) I may look into putting it onto film and try to get it into festivals, but that would take much more time (2048 pixels horizontal as a minimum resolution) and probably run me about $700- $1000 for the transfer. Stay tuned!

TTFN
-Tony

Reinventing the Karma Wheel

The Illustration Friday word of the week is REINVENT. This is what happens to me whenever I try to reinvent myself. I suppose this is why the Church says not to touch yourself.

-TTFN
Tony

A Plea for Sanity in an Insane World

I'm doing a small job in the apartment complex where I live. Jen, Joe & Mandy came by to visit. Here's Joe modeling my lovely pipework.



In other news, it seems the Firesign Theatre is performing live versions of their classic albums Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him, and Don't Crush that Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers. (Probably one of the greatest comedy albums of all time. Every time I listen to it I get something new out of it.) The only problem is that they're only doing it on the West Coast. Isn't there a petition I can get going somewhere to get them to come to NY? This is Manhattan, for Christ's sake!

Speaking of Christ's sake, (And no, that's not what Jesus drinks when he goes to a Chinese restaurant, though that would make a good brand,) people seem to be upset because gamblers are wagering on who will be the next pope. Me, I'm pissed because the P.C. war has claimed the greatest of them all. Yes, friends and neighbors, Cookie Monster is going on a diet. Kids are getting too pudgy, and it must be because they see Cookie Monster scarfing everything in site on Sesame Street. No, it's not that the kids are sitting around watching TV all day and playing video games, (not that there's anything wrong with that.) Or perhaps more kids these days are hurt, scared, lonely and bullied, and are turning to food for comfort. Yes, I know this is not a good thing, but changing the greatest Muppet ever created will NOT change that. Look at the real problems in your children's lives, people, and leave the big C alone!

Yes, friends & neighbors, stick a megaton nuke up Elmo's whiny ass, please, but LEAVE THE BIG BLUE GUY ALONE. It's bad enough George Lucas ruined my childhood by making Greedo shoot first and having boy genius Darth Vader create C3P0. It's bad enough that you can't even trust Bill Cosby to walk the walk anymore. It's bad enough that whenever they show Bugs Bunny cartoons on TV they edit them for P.C. so much they're not funny anymore. JUST LEAVE MY COOKIE MONSTER ALONE, YOU BASTARDS!

Rationally yours,
-Tony

Only the Lonely

The Illustration Friday word of the week is ALONE. Poor little penguin.

-TTFN
Tony

It Happens in Threes, if You Ignore Everyone Else.

Upon hearing the Pope was near death, a coworker said, "It always happens in threes- first Terri Schiavo, then the Pope! Who's going to be third?" Being the obnoxious person I am, I pointed out that thousands of people are born and die every day. (My wife informs me that Frank Perdue just kicked the giant KFC bucket, so I guess I was wrong.)

What have we learned from this horrible Terri Schiavo mess? I have to take the coward's way out and say that I have no idea what it's like to have a mother, daughter or wife be a vegetable for fifteen years, so I really can't make an informed opinion. I've never been brain-dead either, so I can't say weather I'd want my tube pulled or not. Right now, I'll state that no, I do not want to be a vegetable for fifteen years. But who knows what I'd feel once I was in that state- if I could feel anything at all. When I know death is just around the corner, I might be terrified. The only solution is to create some sort of telepathy device that can be used to find out the wishes of the dying.

The only alternative is what we have here on Earth when there is no clear cut route: we break into two camps- some vehemently for, some vehemently against. The ones who were for pulling the tube felt that they wanted this woman (and hopefully themselves, if they were ever in that situation,) to die with some sort of peace. The ones who were against are afraid because it seems that human life is becoming less and less sacred. (They do have a point. Would you ever think of starving a dog to death?) As always, the issue no longer became what is the right thing to do, it became which side is right. One side became murderers, the other side became the (dum dum dummm!) Religious Right. All politicians had to be seen putting in their 2000 cents. Prayers mixed with jeers came from both sides.

The family turned further and further in on each other, to the point where Terri's husband banned her parents and brother from her deathbed. Now this poor woman has passed on. The dust has settled, until the next crisis that involves us to rise up in gangs against each other. Are we really so lonely that this is the only way we feel we can belong to something?

RIP, Terri, His Holiness, and yes, Frank Perdue. Thank God we were spared a holy war over light and dark meat.

TTFN
-Tony

Have Childhood, Will Travel

Illustration Friday is in the air. They used to give out the secret word on Monday. Now they give it out on Friday. So I must get mine in asap, or no one will look at it. The secret word is TRAVEL. God, I love diffuse glow. I don't know where my wierd little guy is going in such a hurry. Maybe to the bathroom.

Remember, brothers and sisters. The solutions to all of life's problems can be found just by clicking here. Don't be shy, try it and just soak up the wisdom. The trick is to take the first letter of every third word, figure out how many pixels make up each letter, then divide by pi. Shhh, don't tell anyone.

Keep the faith, my friends.

TTFN
-Tony