Blog For Free!
Archives
Home
2004 November
2004 October
2004 September
2004 August
2004 July
2004 June
2004 May
2004 April
My Links
My Gallery
My Photos
Dark Bridges
John's Blog
Rilla's Blog
Sneevil
The Flip Side
Urban Injun
Thunderhowl's journal
Ginger's Blog
Rook's Journal
Todd's Blog
tBlog
My Profile
Send tMail
My tFriends
My Images
Sponsored
Blog
Daily Tip:
|
| Fare thee well, tBlog. |
| 10.26.04 (6:56 am) [edit] |
Well, tblog has finally crapped out on me for the last time. I had a whole post about Gunapalooza written up yesterday, and it couldn't find the server when I went to post it. I suppose it's partially my fault for forgetting to copy/paste my post, but still...It's annoying. That's the third time this has happened in the past two weeks.
Luckily, [url=http://www.johnallison.ca]Skippy[/url] was kind enough to set me up with a new site on the [url=http://www.saskblogs.com]Saskblogs[/url] site. Update your links, and I'll see you there!
|
|
|
| |
| It's alive!!! |
| 10.22.04 (6:35 pm) [edit] |
I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I think my car is working again. My mom's boyfriend knows a ton about cars, and he found out that my car wasn't working, so he came over here on his break to take a look at it. Wow, he rocks...
Anyway, he was going to take it into his garage to replace the water pump, and by the time he got it home, it wasn't overheating anymore. He figures that air got caught in the lines, and that's why the coolant wasn't getting to the engine. Hopefully it's worked it's way out of there for good, so now all I have to do is top up the coolant levels and it should be working again. Whew... I'd already replaced the thermostat, and I'm glad I don't have to do the water pump, too.
He checked out my engine, and then dropped it back off just before 1:00. I took him out for lunch to thank him, cause now my baby's working again. WOOT!
|
|
|
| |
| *Damn, man. Who drew on my stash?? |
| 10.22.04 (3:37 pm) [edit] |
I am aware of the recent blog-storm, and I'm glad that's it's more or less blown over. I hope no one's too worse for the wear after all's said and done, cause I genuinely enjoyed gaming with everyone involved. I did have some things I wanted to add, but I decided to just stay out of it and let it run it's course. Why? Because that was the Smart Thing To Do, and besides, it was None Of My Business. Now, I don't often take that route, mostly cause it's just way too smart for me, but I'm glad I did this time. Mostly because I had a whole pile of NURBS modelling to do, and barely read the forums, let alone all the blogs I usually peruse!
I found a bunch of my old Ani DiFranco albums the other day, and have been listening to them for the better part of the morning as I worked on my compositions.
Listening to the familiar chords, I was suddenly reminded that I haven't picked up a guitar in a good four months, even though I was going to teach myself how to play. Gah... I suddenly have the urge to throw aside my computer and start strumming a chord. This is an odd urge, because I am by no means musical. Artistic, yes, but not musical. I'm distracted by the music notes because of the sudden urge to make them dance frantically across the lines of the page like some sort of Don Herschfeld cartoon. Maybe it's because a musical score looks similar to a animator's dope sheet. (The sheet you keep track of layers and timing on, and not a sheet of drugs. Though...considering some animators I know...It wouldn't be hard to confuse the two. "Damn, man. Who drew on my stash??")
I'm almost certain that no place in town would carry an Ani DiFranco song book, but maybe I could ask them to order one in. That, or the Tea Party. No, actually, Not the Tea Party. I love them to bits, but some of they stuff they do with their guitars is pretty bizzare. I remember seeing them live a couple of months ago, and being amazed by their range of instruments. It was almost as if the roadies had just randomly started chucking instruments at Jeff Martin to try and throw him off, and he just kept picking them up and playing them without missing a beat. It got to the point where I couldn't even name the instruments any more, or even imagine how the sound would come out of them, but there he was, still playing. Gah... It'd be fun to be able to play like that, but I'm thinking that a beginner like me needs to stick to a few simple chords for awhile...
Not that I have much time to practice, between getting my submission ready for the zine and getting my designs for the MVA together. Both are more or less due....oh, NOW! Or at least in a few days. Which doesn't leave me much time, cause I'm planning on going to QK's Gunapalooza this Saturday. Provided, of course, that my car works. The engine almost overheated last night and there was coolant all over the place when I checked under the hood, so I tried replacing the thermostat. Nothing. I barely got out to school this morning. I'm really hoping that the water pump hasn't gone, cause that's a little beyond my mechanical skills. I'll have to take it into the shop...Which means there's no guarantee I'll get it back before Saturday. I guess it's a bit of a moot point, though, cause either way, I'd have no way to get it out there. I'll have to see how quickly I can get it looked at.
So, we'll have to see. I'm sure there'll be enough cars going out there that I can catch a ride with someone if I need to. I'd just prefer it if I could actually get mine working, cause I kind of need it to get to school on a regular basis.
|
|
|
| |
| The Gambit |
| 10.19.04 (6:06 pm) [edit] |
Wow, what a weekend. Last weekend was the Gambit, a gamer's conference. Imagine row upon row of people huddled around tables piled with maps, scenery and character sheets. There were dice and figurines everywhere.
Now, I was only there for the LARPS, but man, was there enough of them!! Friday evening was WL's Sabbat larp. I got to play a military hardass named Chaya. It was fun to strut around and be stern. I especially loved the interaction between Chaya and Jenn's character, Calamity Jane. At one point, everything turned into something from a slapstick comedy, with everyone punching each other, and Chaya standing in the midst of the chaos, occasionaly ducking as a punch flew past. Much fun!
There was a bunch of people out from Edmonton for the con, and so we had a bunch of new (to me) faces to game with. They had amazing costumes and so much energy for their characters! I got a bit of a chace to talk to some of them at coffee afterwards. As usual, I stayed out waaaaaay too late, especially considering that I had a game the next day at noon that required considerable costuming.
I got up a bit late, and had to rush around getting costume stuff together. LM & I were nearly late for the info session before the game, and after grabbing a quick lunch and painting L blue for his costume, we were really late for the game. But it was worth it. I wish someone had brought a camera to the Nobilis larp, because the abstract, chaotic blue guy got a lot of attention. I was playing a Noble in charge of Goth Culture, so I flitted around in giant black fairy wings and being alternately sugary-sweet (Oh my goth!) and angsty and depressed.
Right afterwards was the Kingdom Come LARP. I almost wasn't going to go, because I didn't know how long it would take me to get out of costume and I hadn't registered, but I just managed to make it on time to get a character. And what a character...
I was probably more in character than I've ever been when I played Cynthia. She just made sense to me, and I could completely understand why she made all of her decisions. This way good, because there was a lot of crazy stuff that happened to her that night. To make a long story short, it was probably one of the worst nights of her life. I loved it!!! Cynthia started crying about a half-hour into the night when she found out that her best friend, who she had though died months ago, might still have been alive.
And the bawling continued as horrible, horrible things happened. [b]I[/b] actually broke down into tears at one point, which suprised me. Before, I'd just been faking it, but the intensity of the scene must really have gotten to me. And then, without even have seeing the plastic baby head come flying over the divider, I screamed so loudly and so high pitched that I couldn't believe it was actually me screaming. It was wierd...
The game itself was amazing. The ST really knew his stuff, (probably since I believe it was him who wrote the game...) and wrote the scenario so well that it seemed like every character was vital to the plot. It was certainly that way for the group I was in. Enoch got stuck carrying around an artifact that only he could possess, but couldn't cleanse or destroy it. Not a good thing, when there's demons after it...
Enoch, Ambriel and Cynthia spent most of the evening huddled together, trying not to get killed. I loved the scene where one of the other characters was revealed to be a demon, and Enoch pulled everyone behind a convenient column to hide. There was much witty dialogue as we tried to ignore what was going on behind us. Even better was when Ambriel was tied to the throne, to prevent her from becoming a thrall. We sort of talked around things very sarcastically.
It was wierd for a one-shot, because for my character, everything seemed to be more or less resolved. Sure, nothing happened to Nicholas (who was played beautifully, and sleazily, by QK), and there was another major plot line with Eve that we hadn't uncovered, but the main plots of the evening were covered. There was this great moment when Nicholas came and sat by Cynthia while she was guarding Ambriel on the throne, and he acknowledged that while she would probably always hate him, he was ok with that, and hoped they could still work together.
Ahh, but enough rambling about that. There were so many awesome little moments that I could keep talking for hours. I was still pumped after the game, even though it was 2 am, so I went over to the Hose where there was a sort of 'gamer's social.' We danced like crazy, (partially to keep warm. Who ordered the snow???) and then headed out for coffee afterwards.
The next day, I kind of groggily dragged myself back to the Con. I wasn't going to go at all on Sunday, but LM wanted to check and see if some of his friends from out of town were there. It was a good thing I did go, cause I found out that I won the 'Leading Lady of the Larps' award for my preformance as Cynthia. Woah!!! I still can't believe it.
I snuck off for breakfast/lunch/supper (it was 4:00, but it was my first meal of the day cause I'd slept in...), which turned into a side scene for the Sabbat Larp, (Ok, so that was a bit excessive. But needed.) before running back to the Con in time for the awards ceremony.
So, yeah. That was quite the weekend. I still can't believe that I LARPed that much in three days.
And no, JR, I didn't each Cheetos a single time that whole weekend. ^_-
|
|
|
| |
| Another busy weekend. Am I suprised? Not at all. |
| 10.15.04 (6:10 pm) [edit] |
Waiting...for...things...to...render.....
I managed to pull off a little over a minute of animation today, and not just ships flying. I animated a butterfly swooping around infront of my completed jungle hut, and quickly realized that even though butterflies are very easy to animate classically, they are much more difficult to animate in 3D, especially when the planes the wings are on have a mind of their own and decide to go spinning off into nothingness. Grrr.....
But, I'm finished, at least. Now I just have to leave my scene to render over the weekend, cause it'll probably take nearly that long. Monday we'll move on to NURBS and organic rendering.
Last night was my sister's birthday party. She turned 10, so we had all my cousins over for cake. It was great. They chased me around the house and climbed all over me until I finally offered to teach them how to draw dragons in an effort to calm them down. They loved it. See, art is useful for oh-so many things!
Tonight is the first night of the Gambit, and I'll be playing in WL's Sabbat Larp. I've got most of my costume in the car, which is a good thing, because I have to drive my sister and her friends to the pool right after school. It's her "birthday-party-with-frie nds", so my mom and grandpa get to watch eight 10-year-olds at the pool. I just have to drive. Whew....
Hopefully, they'll be done with presents soon enough that I can get them to the pool before 7, cause that's when the larp starts. Good thing my costume for this one is simple, cause tommorow's Nobilis costume takes about twenty minutes to put on, if I rush the make-up. It'll be worth it, though. My costume is frightening to me on so many levels.
Most of my weekend will be spent at the Gambit, indulging in my required geekiness for the week. I'm thinking of dropping by the gamer's social (is that an oxymoron?) after the Nobilis larp, which is good, cause I can sleep in on Sunday. There's nothing at the Gambit that really interests me on Suday, so I'll probably just catch up on some chores around the house, and hopefully work on my submission for the zine.
|
|
|
| |
| Where did the week go? |
| 10.15.04 (12:37 am) [edit] |
The lack of updates is mostly due to the fact that I have a major assignment due tommorow, and so every moment spent infront of the computer invariably involves me either texturing something or screaming at Maya for crashing. I'm beginning to dream in polys.
The long weekend was a bit of a blur. I did a bit of Halloween shopping with LM, and then caught a football game on Sunday with my family. Ed's son plays for the Hilltops, so it's nice to go out and cheer him on. Plus, the weather was absolutely perfect. The sun was out, and the wind has just a hint of chill to it, enough to remind you that it's autumn, but not enough to freeze me.
That was also the night that we had our Thanksgiving dinner, so it was a pretty busy day. We'd done food prep all morning, so thing were more or less ready to go by the time we left for the game. My 'grandma' was in from Edmonton, and she stayed behind to nap and watch the turkey. By the time we got home, almost everything was done. As usual for any of my families events, suppertime was loud and full of embarrasing stories. I managed to sneak by for another year without anything particularly embarassing, but I don't know how much longer that trend's going to hold. My mom knows how to make me blush without even saying anything.
Monday we decorated the yard for Halloween. My sister and I fought with some giant cobwebs and managed to get them strung around the yard without getting caught for too long. We also made little tombstones for the front yard. Have I mentioned how much I love Halloween??
This week's been a huge blur. I've been working on my assignment, and my costume(s) for the Gambit this weekend. Tommorow's the night of WL's Sabbat game, which will officially mark my one-year gaming anniversary. I need cake. ^-^
Well, back to the grindstone. If I can pull off a full minute of animation in a day, I'll be in the clear. If it turns out good, I'll probably post it on my devArt site.
|
|
|
| |
| I'm official!!! |
| 10.08.04 (6:27 pm) [edit] |
Whee!!! I finally got my status card last night! I'm officially a member of Little Pine First Nations.
Every baby is assigned a treaty number that is their mother's number, plus 02 (or 03, or 04, depending on how many kids there are). You have this number up until you are 19, at which time you are assigned your adult number.
I've been waiting for, oh, almost two full years now to get my card. Finally, I heard that they were having a treaty governance meeting at the Ramada last night, so I decided to go and sit in on the proceedings. Our constitution has been in effect for three years, and it was now time to review how the policies have worked out. We agreed that the language in the documents was to inaccesible, and didn't take into account cultural norms such as oral tradition or traditional law. A committee was set up to try and take these things into account in the next round of revisions, but other than that there was just a lot of general discussion.
Before I left, I noticed that they were making up new treaty cards, so I went over and got my photo taken. Twenty minutes later, I had my new card. Yay! Now I can get cheaper gas, if I drive all the way across the city.
|
|
|
| |
| Oh yeah, I guess I should update this thing... |
| 10.06.04 (5:46 pm) [edit] |
Once again, I'm updating my blog while waiting for stuff to render off. I've cranked out 15 seconds of animation since lunch, and it's now 3:30....That's about 6 minutes per frame. Not too bad, when you take into account rendering time and the time I spent trying to get my motion paths to work. Actually, 15 seconds of animation in a day is damn good.
It helps that the animations are [i]very[/i] basic. The first two are just my alien ship flying towards a planet from different angles. I'm going to have to work double-time to get the fight sequence animated before I have to leave today. Luckily, I can leave my box on overnight to render, so it'll be ready for me to peice together when I get here tommorow.
It's been a busy week. The Hoifloth wedding was on Friday, and I went up for the reception/house party on Saturday evening. Trent & I had fun making up bizzare horror movie scenarios on the road up there, and we managed not to get (too) lost. Once we got to the cabin, there was much food, laughter, wacky conversation and even some singing. Oh, yeah, did I mention the food? Wow...There was so much of it, and it was all amazing. Kudos to the chefs.
Both Kurt & Caitlin looked great. Caitilin's dress turned out really nice, and I loved the design of it. Oddly enough, it was the second ren-faire wedding dress I've seen recently. A trend, or just smart planning on the brides' part? I say, screw the tule! Go for something original!
I crashed that night at a cabin with nine other people, and then headed back for the city with Layne & Trent. We even managed to get in a couple of quick side scenes, even though we missed this month's Sabbat game. It doesn't really matter because Val's out of the country, so I couldn't play her anyway. Don't worry, she'll be coming back sooner than you think. ^_-
I spent the past few days modelling my ships and leaning how to do all sorts of SFX, like photon torpedoes and smoke. I wanted to put a bit more into my scene, but I'll be lucky to get it done as it is. Tommorow morning we're going to be reviewing this project, and then we'll have a few hours to work on our next assignment before the whole class heads out to see "Shark Tale". I'm really hoping it's got a decent story, because I haven't heard much about it yet.
Tonight's Shadowrun, so as soon as I'm finished my scene, I'll have to run. It'll be a fun scene, cause I get to establish who my character is after she showed up in the middle of last game's screw-job.
Anyway, I better run. I think my scene's done rendering.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
