Back to School!

It's the first full week of school and it looks like Tuesdays are going to be a bear! Autodesk Maya (3D Animation) and Adobe Illustrator at midday and Advanced Cinematography as a night class. Enough time for dinner and a nap before the late one, but not really enough time for the 1-hour round trip home.

Tonight we find out what action movie the Ad-Cine class will shoot this fall and the Post-Production class will edit next spring. I have a movie script in the running as do some friends of mine. Of course, if my script has been chosen, I'll be ineligible to Direct, which is just as well since a fat-old-retired-guy got selected for the Director's chair last year. Can't have two in a row, see what I'm sayin'?

If my script is chosen, I definitely want to Produce, since I'd written it for props and wardrobe I already have or soon will have. Actually, if it's not chosen, I'll shoot a shorter version of it myself in the spring Advanced Video class, but don't tell Professor Wing that. I think it would be a lot more kick-ass with a whole class of film brains working on it than just a team of volunteer classmates than might show up or not.

Hmm... I think I woke up too early today. Maybe I'll read more of that Illustrator textbook to help me get back to sleep.

When I Should Be Doing Homework

...I gotta play instead.

Keeping Up With the Blobses

It's not enough that my buddy Jon is a dead-eye with his iron-sighted M1A Springfield and is murder with his Leupold-scoped POF-USA rifle in .223. No, he had liquidate some of his gun collection to top my scoped .308 (bottom) with his own DPMS LR-308 with all the bells and whistles!

He opted for the same Vortex PST scope I have, so I warned him to save the box it came in; my cross-hairs are starting to rotate! That's another post, though.

Our foursome (Jon, his brother Wayne, Big Bob, myself) consisted of almost a third of the entire match turnout... August matches in Phoenix are not for the faint-hearted. Even though Jon won both Riotgun and Carbine, I was behind him by less than two seconds total match time (and only 0.3 seconds in Carbine). I had a very "efficient" match; I probably could have beaten him in Riotgun, but I chose to shoot the second steel string with pistol, because neither Carbine stage featured pistol -- and also because I was in a hurry to get out of that shadeless stage :) Here's Jon's performance:


Fleet-footed Wayne threatened to humiliate us all with his iron-sighted, brutally braked FN-FAL, but on the second rifle stage his foreign Thumper decided to get finicky. Big Bob was the lone mouse-gunner in our group and he learned that the League's new rifle steel is a tad beefier than the old head-and-shoulders silhouettes.

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday -- Scroll down for new content.
Got a better caption or photoshop for this pic? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar! If you're lucky, I'll be too busy to blog and you'll keep your ad up for weeks!

Original Caption:

KELSO, SCOTLAND - AUGUST 26: Lance Corporal Johnnie Miller of the Household Cavalry rehearses at Floors Castle in preparation for massed Pipe Band day on August 26, 2011 in Kelso, Scotland. The event, being held on August 28, will feature the first Scottish performance of the Household Cavalry's Musical ride in over 10 years. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

You need not be a blogger to win; however, if you post anonymously, it will be very difficult to recognize you again to design a Blog Ad.

Check out the links in Drinks Ordered for photoshops!

Judging begins Monday Night. Or not.

WINNER!

Lil Bro wins with:

I'm not getting up until you apologize about that "resembling Camilla" remark.

Other Contests:

Support Your Local Gunfighter
Outside the Beltway
Wizbang

Naw, He's Still Golfing

News Flash

MSNBCBS/ The recent earthquake near Washington DC was centered on a previously undiscovered tectonic convergence now named "Bush's Fault." Women, children, and minorities hardest hit. Updates as they become available.

h/t Heidi and Sharon.

So, The Earth Moved?

Funny how I slept in this morning (class starts Thursday) and "2012" was playing on STARZ, complete with the earth collapsing beneath the runway as a small plane was trying to take off. I switched over to the news and got an earful of breathless East Coast Earthquake reportage before Shep Smith put his foot down and decided to switch to the breathless Libyan Revolution reportage. Both a whole lot of nothing. Wake me up when a bridge collapses or they show Qadaffy's head on a pike.

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday -- Scroll down for new content.
Got a better caption or photoshop for this pic? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar! If you're lucky, I'll be too busy to blog and you'll keep your ad up for weeks!

Original Caption:

MADRID, SPAIN - JUNE 30: Duchess of Alba, Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart and Alfonso Diez attend ELLE Awards 25th Anniversary at the Matadero cultural center on June 30, 2011 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

You need not be a blogger to win; however, if you post anonymously, it will be very difficult to recognize you again to design a Blog Ad.

Check out the links in Drinks Ordered for photoshops!

Judging begins Monday Night. Or not.

WINNER!

Rodney Dill of Outside the Beltway is on a roll with:

Joy Behar just shouldn't go out in public without makeup

Other Contests:

Support Your Local Gunfighter
Outside the Beltway
Wizbang

Too Quiet

A couple years ago, folks were worried that those electric cars might be too quiet. Anyone who's ever been to South Tucson knows the answer to that problem: turn up the stereo!

If it was up to me, I'd put a separate stereo in them, an inside set for the enjoyment of the driver, and an outside set with all-weather speakers to warn pedestrians. They'd play the customer's choice of constant audio... I can already imagine what that could be:

• Harley-Davidson RumbleTM
• Kenworth diesel idling
• Playing card in the bicycle spokes
• Ferrari revving
• Little kid making "Vrrrroom, vroom!" noises

What would you play?

Stealth Mission Indeed

Heaven is Hell

That's my friend and fellow Skivvy-Niner Christopher Marcum on the Gary IN set of "Heaven is Hell," Chris Sato directing. He's now a Chicago area actor. Cool!

Zombie Apocalypse in Heaven! What a tag line. They're still shooting and can use a nudge to reach their financing goal.

Don't Hate Me

I only watch Fox News for the babes.

That's Julie Banderas (left) and the Notorious P.A.B. (Patty Anne Browne, right).

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky til Monday. Scroll down for new content.

Got a better caption or photoshop for this pic? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar! If you're lucky, I'll be too busy to blog and you'll keep your ad up for weeks!

You need not be a blogger to win; however, if you post anonymously, it will be very difficult to recognize you again to design a Blog Ad.

Check out the links in Drinks Ordered for photoshops!

Judging begins Monday Night. Or not.

WINNER!

Rodney Dill of Outside the Beltway wins with:

Chicks with Sticks

Other Contests:

Support Your Local Gunfighter
Outside the Beltway
Wizbang

I Wish They All Could Be Korean Air Grrrrrrls

I Win

Source.

Hat tip to Red Oregon.

Old School Jedi

History of English

Hoarked from AOSHQ

The other nine lessons are queued behind this one.

It's SCIENCE!

Don't try this at home! I hope his next experiment is to measure what would happen to a set of eardrums submersed in the same water.

New Semester

I picked up my new textbooks yesterday. Another 16 credit hours on tap for this semester -- and only two books! I'm taking Adobe Illustrator CS5 and an Illustration Techniques class, which thankfully use the same book. These classes should be a challenge because bezier curves usually kick my ass. Autodesk Maya is a 3D animation program that should be the capstone for my Animation degree. If I'm any good at it, I might have to spend the last of the GI Bill bucks on the software. (Yikes, since it runs at $3500, that would consume by GI Bill $$$ AND dig into my own pocket.)

My 4th class is a retaking of Advanced Cinematography, where I'm going to try for Director (this year, we're doing an Action flick). I know the cards are stacked against me because the professor picked an old guy for Director last year. On the bright side, I have a script submitted; if it gets picked, I can't Direct it, but I'd be more than willing to be a Producer and/or Special Effects Supervisor.

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky til Monday. Scroll down for new content.

Got a better caption or photoshop for this Reuters pic? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar! If you're lucky, I'll be too busy to blog and you'll keep your ad up for weeks!

You need not be a blogger to win; however, if you post anonymously, it will be very difficult to recognize you again to design a Blog Ad.

Check out the links in Drinks Ordered for photoshops!

Judging begins Monday Night. Or not.

WINNER!

Anonymous Reader wins with:

Honey, I think my water just broke

Other Contests

Support Your Local Gunfighter
Outside the Beltway
Castle Argghhh!
Wizbang

No Speedy Gonzales

I was out getting this week's dosage of Vitamin D today and on the way back I was "stuck" in traffic behind a "Putstang" with Chihuahua plates (that's a state in Mexico, not a vanity plate for toy dog owners). By stuck, I mean that he was going the speed limit in the left lane, no matter how empty the highway was ahead of him. He finally let me by when he found a half mile of empty right lane.

I've noticed that Mexican drivers, when they can be identified as such, are very conscientious about observing the speed limit (while about half of all American drivers are not). I wonder if it's because they're conditioned to avoid contact with corrupt Mexican police officers? Or are they afraid of scrutiny from American law enforcement? It could be neither or both, but I can sympathize, having driven through Illinois once.

Monday Thought

You know, I'm really surprised the Obama Administration hasn't tried one of those Gun Buy-Back programs with the Mexican cartels. Or maybe they have and no one's blown the whistle on it yet.

ACM, Now IN COLOR!!!!11!!1!

The 2nd 2010 Advanced Cinematography project was Arizona Chainsaw Massacre. Director Slawomir Suavek declined to attend the post-production class that edited the school version, but instead crafted his own imagining of the tale. I must say, soundtrack aside, the Director's Cut is an improvement over the school version, in that he used more of the footage we captured in the Post class to fill in the coverage and mustered more special effects than the Post class did.

What do you think?

Hey "Wedding Dresses"

You spamming piece of filth, keep coming back and leaving your spam links... I probably expend less energy deleting them than you do creating them. Hey, why don't you haunt some girly site where folks might actually be looking for foreign, cheap, poorly made wedding dresses?

Speaking of Premieres

Got to see a sneak peak of "No Such Thing as Monsters" tonight and I was really impressed. We started the night by watching the original version, which turned out to be Writer/Director Snuf Leamon's first attempt at film-making. Since Snuf, most of the crew, and I attended Pima's basic and advanced film/video classes together, we could really appreciate the improvement in the video, audio, and attention to detail. I won't even mention the marked increase in acting talent in the 2011 version. (Shhh... I'm not mentioning it.)

Premiering Soon!

I finished the rough cut of "Gretchen" this morning and sent off the super-secret links to my co-conspirators collaborators for polishing advice. I'm half tempted to just burn a DVD and debut the thing at tomorrow night's First Friday Shorts, but I'm hopeful of getting some color-correction schooling from my Homies who know Final Cut better than I do.

Another possible Premiere venue is the Short Film Showcase, a revolving mid-month local film fest. Regardless of which I choose, I'll put the final product up on the blog afterwards. As if you care.

Happy Birthday, Coasties!

Lookin' sharp!

Bu11$h1t

Thank You for Contacting Us!

Hi Robert,

Thank you for visiting http://www.kraftfoods.com/.

Thanks so much for taking the time to contact us with your suggestion for PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese.

We're always delighted when people care enough about our products and packaging to offer their own creative ideas.

As you might know, we have a new "unsolicited ideas" policy that allows Kraft to consider some types of ideas (mainly for new products and packaging innovations) submitted by consumers. However, our policy does not cover unsolicited ideas regarding: product line extensions, packaging changes, advertising, promotions and recipes ideas.

So, those types of ideas are not sent along to our new "Innovations Team," who is responsible for analyzing unsolicited ideas under our new policy.

But, we do want you to know that comments shared by our consumers can be very helpful to Kraft. Various Kraft teams do review comments such as yours, which help us identify consumer trends, preferences and needs.

Again, we appreciate you contacting us and applaud both your creativity and loyalty.

It was great hearing from you, and remember we're always updating our site so visit us again soon!

Kim McMiller
Associate Director, Consumer Relations

------------------------------------------------------------------

Why don't you make a wasabi-flavored Philadelphia Cream Cheese? One mild and one sharp? That would kick butt.

As If Tucson Wasn't Scenic Enough

Our ocassional weather is awe-inspiring.

Is My Bitch, Da?

h/t to Chris K.

Bustin' Caps and Things

Since I was too busy for the Cactus Match last weekend, Jon invited me up this weekend for Rio Salado's 5th Saturday Sub-Gun/Pistol-Caliber Carbine Match. I kept the Hebroom at home in the safe, though, saving my Winchester White Box 9-mm for the big October Sub-Gun Match. This being one of Jon's favorite matches, he talked Keith and Grant into trying it. Keith liked it so much, he edged Jon out for 1st Place in the PCC Division using his new 9-mm AR carbine.

The fun stage of the day was the two-shooter cooperative stage whereby both shooters shared times and penalties. I slowed down Jon's time by jamming occasionally and over-engaging targets, while Jon returned the favor by engaging my activator target before I could get a bead on the corresponding disappearing target. This match could become my own favorite if I could get my 9-AR running well and remember to give blood after the match, not before it.

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky til Monday. Scroll down for new content.

Got a better caption or photoshop for this pic? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar! If you're lucky, I'll be too busy to blog and you'll keep your ad up for weeks!

You need not be a blogger to win; however, if you post anonymously, it will be very difficult to recognize you again to design a Blog Ad.

Check out the links in Drinks Ordered for photoshops!

Judging begins Monday Night. Or not.

WINNER!

No Name of The Motorcycle Project wins with:

Is being latest technology! You buy!

Other Contests:

Support your Local Gunfighter
Outside the Beltway
Wizbang