Old Spice introduces the New Old Spice Guy, Fabio who wastes no time challenging old Old Spice Guy to an internet duel
I made this whacky little video tutorial and posted it over on youtube. Seriously, it's whacky. I was fiddling around with Flash and illustrator and thought it would be fun (HAHA) to do a cartoon style animation. I've never done any type of animation before, in fact, I've never put together more than a few seconds worth of flash "footage" at one time, ever, so I couldn't resist the challenge.
I can now safely vouch for the truth of the phrase "ignorance is bliss". Animation is a LOT of work!!
At any rate it's done and uploaded (see link below), but this post isn't about the actual video so much, as about what I learned, in the process of getting the damn thing uploaded to youtube.
During the testing phase last week I discovered that when I exported the Flash file to QuickTime (video format - .mov), for some reason the audio wasn't exporting with it. The only other available file format for Flash on a Mac is .swf and youtube doesn't accept .swf files. WTF Flash? Seriously? A little quality time with google confirmed that I wasn't the only one with this problem but I still couldn't find a solution, although one enterprising dude had suggested making a QuickTime screencast of the animation and uploading THAT file. When I tried it, I ended up with a .mov file over 300 mb, which took over 2 hours to upload, and when it finally did upload, it was so badly corrupted that it was unusable. That's when I checked the Share options in QuickTIme (10.0) and here's what I did... I exported the screencast .mov file to "Share with iTunes", then dragged the resulting mpg from iTunes to my desktop and uploaded THAT file to youtube. The mpeg was 13 mgs or so and took less than 5 minutes to upload. I still haven't found a workaround for that initial file format issue, so I ended up creating the screencast of my original Flash file. I expanded the Flash stage to 300% and closed all the pallettes and timeline, so that the animation filled the screen as much as possible. If you try it, remember that the screencast will record the audio in your file with your built-in mic, so turn off the tv and try to keep the kids and pets out of the room, during recording! This method worked fine for my purposes. Your mileage may vary, of course I'll admit it's a bit of a convoluted fix, but it did work... and frankly I couldn't stand the thought of all that work going to waste just because Flash is a stupid, stupid application. Screen Captures & An Intro To Mac Terminal
Yesterday the fire alarm went off in my building. Turns out it was a false alarm but it alerted me to how woefully ill-prepared I am for an actual emergency.
The cat was well behaved. She didn't even put up a fight when I shoved her into her carrier (a first) but everything else was a shambles.
At one point I stood, holding the cat and nothing else, ready to evacuate, but slowly came to the realization that I might need something besides a cat, in my new, post-fire life.
Maybe the laptop? It's got actual work on it, which I might want to continue doing, when I begin this new life, but what I really wanted to take, was the big screen tv. It didn't even occur to me till after the alarm stopped ringing, that I hadn't even begun looking for my wallet, car keys, passport... Anyway, I wasted a lot of time standing around with no plan of action. Bad form.
Have resolved to make up an 'emergency kit' with all the important things in one fire-proof place, and to also equip the car with a "survival kit" of some type, too, just in case.
I'm also planning to hold at least one fire drill, to see how long it takes me to get out of this place in one piece before it burns to the ground. I think I can safely excuse the cat though. She's got her part down to a T.
okay, MOSTLY Flash-free...
As part of my punishment continuing education, I've undertaken to re-aquaint myself with web development tools this spring/summer.
Hello to HTML 5, CSS3 and jQuery! Also, say hello to the mackin' new redesign of BC+D's website! I like to call it blackweb 2.011 (geddit?).
Anyway, go visit. I promise there's no background music, and no cutsie "preloader" animations. Buh-bye, Flash! Sorry Queen (and Blackberry).
Those of you who know me have heard me complain, repeatedly, about my insane workload over the past year. Those of you who don't, should know that I recently ended a 13 month, full-time contract. Not tragic, I agree, but when you combine that with BC+D's client work, it amounted to 13 months of 12 hour+ days, plus frequent weekends.
I ate, slept, breathed and dreamed graphic design. It played havoc with my shoulders, neck and BMI. Was responsible for me missing numerous opportunities to interact socially with real people. It caused me to miss the rare chance to catch up with a dear friend, who was in town, visiting from out west and contributed to the overall dimming of my intellect - which was never that bright to begin with. Basically... If it didn't involve close-cropping, kerning, dummy text or creep allowance, I didn't have time to think about it.
I'm slowly starting to tackle that whole Body Mass Index issue, though, and on the subject of intellect, I noticed that I've stockpiled quite the reading list over the year. Till now I've only managed - typically out of guilt, to read a couple of paragraphs from any given title, in that vapoury 15 minutes before falling into slumber. Yesterday however, I realized that I finally have time to read again! So here's the list I've put together of books that I plan to tackle over the next few months, in between bouts of cardio and vigorous tv watching:
Iain M. Banks - Transition
Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali
God's Terrorists - Charles Allen
Decision Points - George W. Bush
Zodiac - Robert Graysmith
Griftopia - Matt Taibbi
Bush At War - Bob Woodward
The War Within - Bob Woodward
A Journey - Tony Blair
Obama's Wars - Bob Woodward
Known and Unknown - Donald Rumsfeld
Truman - David McCullough
Oh joy!
So I'm trudging down my apartment building hallway last week, on my way home from another joyous day at work and I spy a hand-written note stuck to my neighbor's door, along with a tasteful faux-stained-glass ornament.
The note is a spidery cursive, penned in blue ink and makes me think of Mrs. Martin, my 4th grade teacher who was as old as the hills 40 years ago, so she's probably not doing too well at all, these days. The thought makes me sad, so I stop to read the note, hoping to learn that Mrs. Martin isn't dead after all, and is now in the habit of leaving reassuring letters to her former students, notifying them of her good health and vigor.
No such luck. The note starts off by saying "STOP Listening at our door" and goes on to detail the various, clever ways they know that you are, in fact, listening at their door. For one, they can see you through the peep-hole, you ninny, and for two, the dog can smell you and hear you.
I got that far in the note and then heard a shuffling sound behind the door and realized that in all likelihood, I myself had now been branded a sneaky door listener, so I withdrew - before reaching the end of the note, which includes a tantalizing bulleted list (see below).
My combination drive-by, side-eye approach to getting it read hasn't worked because the writing is pretty messy, and my attempt to photograph it was also a failure, so I'm going to have to figure out something new. Any ideas?
5. Twitter Marketers: There's nothing wrong with using twitter as part of your comprehensive social media/marketing strategy, but for heaven's sake, try to offer something more to your followers than a sales pitch, m'kay?
Tweeting "STREAM SATELLITE TV FOR EVER FOR JUST $600 A MONTH!!! 24 times a day isn't just a lame marketing strategy, it's as irritating as that obnoxious Aussie who yells about "DOLLARS FOR GOLD", on TV.
4. DM'ing: In the twitterverse, DM stands for Direct Message, not direct mail. DM's are a more private way of communicating with your twitter followers, yes, but nobody wants to have your annoying (and yes, lame) sales pitches DM'd to them right out of the gate.
3. DM'ing [part deux]: Also, I don't want you to DM me, ordering me to become your facebook fan! If I want to find you on facebook, I'll look for you.
2. Speaking of ordering me to do things: Sending me tweets asking me to RT your sales-pitch tweet is so aggravating it should be punishable by law, not to mention a HIGHLY ineffective marketing strategy. I'll decide when/if something is worth RT'ing to my followers, geddit?
1. Celeb wannabes: If you're hoping that I won't notice that you've unfollowed me, the minute I follow you back, you're s-o-l, pal.
Guess what? I didn't join twitter to be your fan and you ain't no celebrity. There are at least a thousand genuine nonreciprocating celebs I'd follow befor...Hell, I'd follow Charlie Sheen before I'd follow your sorry, unfollowing twitass, so get over your bad self and cease and desist with this most heinous of Twitcrimes, foo'!
Over'n'out...for now...
Fresh off their Bieber hate-athon, grown-ups are now gunning for 13 yr old Rebecca (Fry-day) Black because she sings a crappy little song on youtube, that her mom paid $2000 for her to record. (I WISH my mom had been the type to shell out 2k for me to record a song when I was 13!).
Crappiness notwithstanding, when did adults become such schoolyard bullies? I mean really - picking on little kids for having fun?
You may say that Justin Bieber is a fair target because he's put himself out there intentionally, and is competing in an adult world, and blah deblah blah, but I don't remember adults sitting around, moaning about Donny Osmond, or Michael Jackson when I was a kid. Some smiled indulgently and a few said "kid has a nice voice", and a few others said "kid's singing about love, like he even knows what it is" but that's all I ever remember hearing from grown-ups, about my generation's pop-stars. So when did MY generation turn into such whiny, immature little bitches?
Charlie Sheen sez "I'm tired of pretending like I'm not special. I'm tired of pretending like I'm not bitching a total freaking rock star from Mars", and at first glance, yeah, he sounds like a nutcase but then I thought about it, and realized that I kinda felt the same way about myself.
When it comes right down to it, who hasn't had a moment/day/week/year when they've thought to themselves "I'm too frickin' GOOD for this place/these people"?
So I say, embrace your inner rockstar. Make sure you deliver the goods, then take no guff from no-body and demand the best, from them and yourself. Always.
You've earned it.
ps: I still think Charlie's a dumbass tho.
Even though the film failed to win the big prize, this years Oscars were all about The Social Network. From the youthful choice of cohosts, to the "youtube generation"-style humor segments, and most notably, co-host James Franco's backstage (and, hilariously, onstage) photos, banter and film clips, posted to Twitter, under his own hashtag, #oscarsrealtime.
Like the social networking phenomenon itself, this meta Oscar activity was going on behind the scenes. Unannounced and unpublicized, it added a delicious layer to the awards show, and illustrated (beautifully, I might add) the truth behind the oft-repeated phrase that The Social Network "speaks to this generation".
James Franco Onstage at the Oscars. - Self Portrait