Rummaging around in the past.
I'm going to try to revitalize some of the old things I used to do. Judging from my track record, I'll probably get distracted and forget about it before long. But for now, I've shaken the dust off of my old Blogger site "Visual Breakdown" and given it a WordPress makeover. It's now located here: Visual Breakdown
As of now there's no new content, however I plan to put a post together that shows how I made this using Photoshop:
So at least that's something to look forward to. Although in looking at the file I realize that a lot went in to making it... hmmm...
Here's a screen capture of the Photoshop layers pallet:
Perhaps I should start with something a bit less... daunting. It took over five hours to build, and I was working at 33.25" x 84.5" @ 200 d.p.i. for the original file. It's a 903MB PSD file.
Tell you what. For this one rather than try to break down the entire thing I'll post stills from various stages and let it go at that. Sound good? Great! I knew you would agree.
Blog? What blog?
Oh right! This blog.
I haven't forgotten. Honest. I'm just busy during the day, and when I get home I don't feel like sitting in front of the computer any longer than necessary.
When I find myself with a bit of free time I tend to fill it with games. Lately it's been Red Dead Redemption on the Xbox 360 (also available for PS3). Man, it's blast. I haven't gotten this into a game since Fallout 3.
I'm pretty sure Heather hates it.
When I first heard about it, I figured it would be another failed attempt at a western themed FPS, and I didn't give it another thought. Then I started picking up on rumblings through the net that it was a game that shouldn't be missed if you like open world (sandbox) style gameplay, and the wild west. It's made by Rockstar, of Grand Theft Auto fame, and many people like to call it GTA on horses. Many people are stupid.
That's not to say the game is perfect. There's a fair amount of glitching throughout. One random event had me chase down a horse thief for a shopkeeper. Instead of blowing him off the horse, I lassoed him, hogtied him, and put him on my horse. When I tried to find the horse he stole, it was gone. I took the guy back to the shopkeeper, but he was gone, and when I turned around the thief had vanished from my horse. Another time the train pulled away from a station and left behind a man, sitting in mid air. So, more annoyances rather than game breakers.
I will say that I find it enjoyable in ways that I haven't found any version of GTA enjoyable, and it really is a gorgeous game.
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I recently stumbled across an article about a hoarder that has me really thinking about how I live. I have crap in my closet that I haven't looked at since I put it there when we moved in. When we first looked at this house it was so spacious, we thought we would always have room. Now it's getting kinda scary. Not with towers of piles waiting to crush you if you bump them, but certainly the seeds are there. I'm going to have to buckle down and figure out what "treasures" are really "trash" and get them the hell out of here. Figure out what I can live without and then do so.
It's not going to be easy. Every time in the past that I've gone through my crap in an attempt to thin it out, I've later found myself needing something that was no longer there. Just yesterday I found a need for a USP Zip drive that I used to have, but I got rid of it some time last year. Annoying. But I can't keep going like this. It's stupid.
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It's looking like my Pacman Jaws design will go to print. The only question now is what version. Due to many comments asking for it, I've updated with a pixelated ghost version:
Jaws design @ © SplitReason.com
and have requested further comments before handing over the high-res artwork. Brian at SR said we'll give it a couple more weeks and see what happens. I expect it should be printed by August, but the timetable is all up to them.
Slides
Not the kind you ride down. The 35mm kind. My dad loved to take pictures, and he preferred slides to prints. When I was out in Tennessee for his funeral I was given five cases full of his slides with the agreement that I would scan them and upload them for anyone who wanted to see them. The slide scanner I bought through Amazon arrived today and I took it for a spin with a couple of random boxes. I uploaded the results to my SmugMug gallery.
This weekend I hope to have the time to start scanning more, starting with the oldest slides I can find. Anything not for the public will be put in hidden galleries, but everything else will be available to browse. One thing about my dad; he LOVED to travel. There will be photos that were taken all over Europe in the sixties... possibly older. It's going to be fun. I just wish he was still around to tell us about them.
When I was a kid I DREADED my dad breaking out the slide projector. Now I would give ten years off my own life for one more year to be able to sit with him and talk about his life and his adventures.
One story I'll never forget is how, when he was stationed in Turkey, he had a molar that was hurting him something fierce. As he told it, the base dentist was a butcher and there was no place off base that he could go to have the tooth extracted, so he did what he had to do. He got liquored up, took a pair of pliers and extracted his own tooth...
I'm sorry I wasn't there for you for the last 18 years dad. This project won't make up for that, but at least something you created will be out there for the world to see.
Home again, home again…
... jiggety-jig.
Wow. I post like crazy while I'm on the road, then I get back and nothing. Not even a short post to say I made it safely. I'm blaming it on settling back in and just an overall rundown feeling.
I flew to Tennessee on Continental, and back on Delta.
Both planes were small jets, and to my untrained eye similar in size. I know I was in the Air Force for four years, but the only times I was actually near an airplane was when I flew to England and back, or walking around them when they were parked at air shows. My knowledge about planes is similar to my knowledge about ships: I can tell one when I see one.
To me they seemed like the same size. Here's my comparison of the flights:
Continental:
- Three rows of seating; two on the right side, one on the left
- Rock hard seats
- Snacks consisted of mini-muffin, pretzels or peanuts
- Good view
- One hour layover in Houston
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Delta:
- Four rows of seating; so the seats seemed a bit narrower
- The seats were more comfortable, but not great
- Snacks consisted of cookies, pretzels or peanuts
- Tiny windows
- One hour layover in Minneapolis
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Both planes sounded like riding in a vacuum cleaner. The trip from Minneapolis to Colorado Springs was bouncy from start to finish. I was glad to be off it.
Which would I rather fly in the future? I guess Delta since the seat was softer.
Looking this post over, I realize it's boring as shit. Sorry. That might be another reason I didn't post anything before now. Nothing interesting happened on the flight, nor in the past few days.
Well, almost nothing. I did splurge like a lunatic and bought a 32GB iPad on Friday. So far I really like it, but I haven't really had a lot of time to mess with it. I've put around nine art apps on it, and downloaded a crap-ton of public domain books through the iBookstore. I also installed a PDF displaying program so I can have my reference books at hand. The one thing I really hope someone will come up with is a decent/accurate stylus. I do okay using my finger to draw, but it's fat and hard to see through, so it's still tricky. It would be great if Wacom came up with one.
If I can get some time to get used to it, I'll post the results here.
Fly Bye
The Returnening.
I've got a 2.5 hour wait for my flight and 86% of a charge on my phone. I have some books in my bag for when I'll have to go low-tech.
I'm ready to be home. I have a fair amount to do when I get there.
All-in-all, I'm pretty tired.
Fortune Cookie Wisdom
Not the fortune you want to find in your cookie the night before flying: "An unexpected event will soon make your life more exciting."
It was a good service.
Really good turnout. I'm surprised by how heavy a small box of ashes can be. I love you dad. Be seeing you again someday. Not too soon though, I hope.
Tomorrow is the day
I miss you Dad. You were right, Tennessee is beautiful. I wish we could have visited you last Summer like I'd planned.
Inflight notes pt.2
Same day, I just didn't want to post any more yesterday.
1:01pm - Houston time.
Dammit. Same freakin' sized plane, same rock hard seat. How the hell can these seats be used as floatation devices? Are they styrofoam? What they aren't is comfortable. Give me a seat that doesn't numb my ass in the first half hour of the flight, and I'll take my chances with drowning.
I read a book for the remainder of the trip.
A little turbulance, but nothing like the first part of the trip.
Looking around at my fellow passengers, I've decided flying in these small planes is like riding in a Greyhound bus. In the sky. At least it's faster than taking a bus.
2:30 pm - Nashville time
Arrived fine. The air is thick and smells odd, but it's good to be done with flying for a week.
It's odd. I'm seriously afraid of heights, but I'm not afraid of flying. I had a window seat for the first flight, and I watched the scenery for most of the trip. Even when the plane would bank left and I was looking almost straight down I was fine. Not even a flutter of fear. No real anxiety at take-off or during landing.
I just don't like to fly.
4:00pm
That's it. I need to do something about my weight. The mortician is large. Wide large. Wobbles a bit while walking. He seems like a very nice fellow, and I'm not being mean when I mention his size. He knows how big he is.
When we were talking about the flight in, he looked at me and said, "Those seats just aren't made for big fellas like us."
Ouch.
Inflight notes pt. 1
9:30am -
Turbulicious.
Our flight attendant had to use an air sickness bag.
More legroom my ass.
Speaking of my ass; it's asleep. Dammit.
I think the seat I had at Freak Train last night was more comfortable, and it was broken with a sprung spring that was poking my right buttcheak for the whole night.
9:57am -
We must be getting close. Dropped out of the clouds and I see some damned city below.
Still rocking and shaking with short periods of calm.
12:02pm -
Landed safely in Houston and have an hour layover. Next stop Nashville. I hope. I also hope this plane is larger than the last one.