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Are you popular? Take this quiz!

  • May. 8th, 2008 at 9:46 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
Okay, I should rephrase the subject line to be "Am I popular?" as I just watched the RiffTrax version of Are You Popular? an educational film produced by educational film producing company Coronet Films back in 1947. In Oklahoma. Don't believe me, then check out it's IMDb page here.

And, I should rephrase the bit about the "quiz" I mentioned above. The title itself is a question, although when pressed I confess that this alone hardly constituents a "quiz."

So, looking at the question Am I Popular? The answer, of course, is depressingly self-evident by the mere fact that I watched Are You Popular?

The short itself is quite comical even before the Riffing by the lovable Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett. What I learned is that the for a girl to be popular (as defined by this short, in other words, not the one who would be popular in real life):

  1. To be popular a girl must "look nice." Sounds reasonable, although the standard seems to be that one must look nicer than the "weird characters."

  2. It helps to "be interested in girls as well as boys." Hey! The narrator said it, not me!

  3. The girl should either feign ignorance, or, even better, actually be stupid. Act like you don't know what a "prop" is.

  4. When your date arrives at your home, excuse yourself to get your scarf and then reemerge with new gloves. (See number 3.)

  5. Be inefficient when compared to boys. Sadly, Carolyn, fails at this task because her date Wally tells her mother  that, "Much that I hate to admit it," Carolyn has been helpful with the props. Obviously Wally has been humiliated.

  6. In order to "repay a boy for entertaining her," Carolyn must invite him over for brownies after the date to "teen town." Or, better yet, "bring another couple home."


And, of course, some totally out-of-context comedy lines from the Rifftraxing:

  • "Look! A mandrill!"
  • "I can't be the father!"
  • "I know gang, let's tear her limbs off in an apoplectic fit of popularity!"
  • "Better than scrawling on the walls with her own blood."
  • "But in the end it all boils down to whether or not you smoke cigarettes."

Tags:

Zubarra!

  • May. 8th, 2008 at 1:27 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
No sooner have you taken care of a pesky Bolladon when you're stuck dealing with the Zubarra that infiltrated the station! I think this is something we can all relate to.

I liked the character from the Bolladon! render earlier in the week, so she's back, this time with a katana in place of the sabre pistol.

At first I was going to have her catching a glimpse of the Zubarra in the glass of the wall display. The angles didn't work out for that shot, but you can still see the reflection of the snarling creature. So, I suppose this is just after she spotted the Zubarra.

Zubarra!

click for larger version


If you want to see what's written on the wall display, check out the super-large version!

Credits
(all are available at DAZ 3D except the Katana which is a free product available on Renderosity.

* rendered in DAZ Studio 2.1
 * Victoria 4.2, by DAZ 3D
* Coat and Shirt from Domino for V4, created by Lourdes Mercado
* Pants from Shadow Dancer for V4, created by Lourdes Mercado
* Shigi Hair, created By: Lesthat, Out of Touch, Vampir3Princess
* V4 Glasses, umm... I can't remember, I'll get back to you on that one
* Level 19, created by Stonemason
* Zubarra, created by Dinoraul

* Katana, created by borada

Two Juntaras and a Bolladon

  • May. 7th, 2008 at 12:21 AM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
Periodically I've been poking around with DAZ Studio and Bryce. I'm having an awful time making decisions, though, all sorts of "vital" things like "should that light go here or here." It's like a giant eye exam.

I think I'm declaring this done. Um, more or less. She isn't holding the gun right!

The environment of columns and water pools is the set Spa of Juntura, actually two of them mixed together, with the addition of the stone wall in the background and some cylinders behind the camera to help create more shadows of "columns." The creature in the back is called a Bolladon in the DAZ online listings. In front is DAZ's Victoria 4.2 with, I think, the generic DAZ hi-res skin texture, the Domino coat/shirt/pants outfit, and Shigi hair, but where I have turned off the double pony tail. The gun, which doesn't fit her hand very well, is from the Privateer set intended for the Michael 3 character. Hmm, maybe I should have looked around for a katana instead.

Bolladon!

click for larger version

 
Credits (all available at http://www.daz3d.com/)
* created with DAZ Studio 2.1
* Victoria 4.2, by DAZ 3D
* Domino for V4, created by Lourdes Mercado
* Shigi Hair, created By: Lesthat, Out of Touch, Vampir3Princess
* Sabre pistol from The Privateer, created By: ElorOnceDark, Anna Benjamin
* Spa of Juturna, by Redhouse Studios
* Bolladon, by Dinoraul

Sundial Guy

  • May. 5th, 2008 at 1:01 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
This shot is of one of the figures holding up a sundial which is located in the center of the "Italian Gardens" in Congress Park located in downtown Saratoga Springs, NY.
I don't know, maybe it's my mood, but he seems like someone who has resigned himself to a rather unhappy occupation.

Taken with my trusty Nikon D40 and 55-200mm VR zoom lens.

Sundial, detail

click for larger version

Something Different

  • May. 3rd, 2008 at 11:26 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
This is part of a project I have been working on very slowly - so slowly in fact that this is about the first usable image.

This was made by Rendering all sorts of things inside DAZ Studio and then mixing some "art" filters with Corel PhotoPaint. PhotoShop has quite a few of those, but I was happy with this combinations because it doesn't look like it came out of cookie cutter set of PS filters.

Anyway, here is the small version. Click for the medium. If you're brave click the link below for the full size one (2400x1500).

Priogenic, P1-P1


click for larger version



For the fullsize version (3+ MB)  click here.


Heads!

  • Apr. 29th, 2008 at 1:05 AM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
Heads of statues, sort of. I think these are cast reproductions or some new originals. There is a very small little sculpture garden at one end of Congress Park in Saratoga Springs. That one reminded me of a set for the original Star Trek series.

A couple pictures from Congress Park and then a few of the statues they recently pulled out of winder storage ay Yaddo Gardens.


Congress Park: Pan

click for larger view


Mallard!

  • Apr. 25th, 2008 at 10:58 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
I was wandering through Congress Park in Saratoga Springs this afternoon and there were ducks about, which is normal, and even some resting the grass near the small pond and brooks, also perfectly normal. What I didn't expect was that they are so used to humans you can get fairly close to them. It also helps that you're not supposed to feed these ducks (and from what I can tell people don't) so they're not eying you for a snack. Most of the ones on the grass were just napping.



Mallard, Resting

click for larger view


pictures of water

  • Apr. 19th, 2008 at 5:30 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
Some pictures taken recently of a brook, two creeks and a river.

lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
Big budget film makers always run a risk when they attempt a cinematic adaption of something from another medium. Some successes include the X-Man films based on the popular comic book characters. The TV series "Cavemen" based on the GEICO commercials drew some favorable comments from critics, but few viewers and was quickly canceled.

Some less well known examples include "Easy Bake Squad" about a group of super spies battling evil forces around the world with the help of their Easy Bake Ovens. The miniseries "Atkins" about a motley group of dietitians who solve mysteries while losing pounds and feeling better, did well in the ratings. Tragically a misprint in the novelization recommending 30 to 40 pounds of low fat yogurt a day, and the backlash lead to "Atkins II: Polyunsaturated" being canceled in pre-production. And as for "Baby On Board: The Movie," well the less said the better.

Iron Man: Trailer... and now a Movie?
And now, something potentially troublesome, last summer's popular trailer for Iron Man is being adapted into a full length motion picture. Will this work? After the cut is a video news report that will present some troubling questions.




Pictures of Things

  • Apr. 14th, 2008 at 10:57 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
Some pictures of things: ducks, a geyser, a seagull and a night time reflecting pool.




Read more... )

If Mirrors Could Speak

  • Apr. 12th, 2008 at 7:43 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
Do you have 99 cents?

No, not for me! For you. Seriously!

Head on over to Rifftrax and pick up the RiffTraxian version of a 1970s school short, If Mirrors Could Speak.


this sucks

  • Apr. 12th, 2008 at 4:13 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
Today is the day, 8 years ago, I had my brain surgery. Maybe eventually this day can come and go and I won't even notice. 

Meetings and More

  • Apr. 9th, 2008 at 3:45 AM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
There are a number of things I need to do this week, appointments to go to, phone calls to make. I did some of that on Monday. A number of these things are likely to end up being critical for what happens over the next month or six or next year, although it's not clear which of them will end up mattering.

The result is that I have been edgy, but an odd kind of edgy, less angry/grumpy and more depressed and upset. It's hard to explain. Well, maybe not that hard, but not worth the effort.

endless

  • Apr. 4th, 2008 at 5:33 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
I haven't been able to sleep at night without an ambien since, well, since a very long time. I am trying (once again) to see if I can extract myself from that, mainly because this means one less drug to buy. (I've done the same thing with one of the two anti-depressants I was on, it's hard to tell if this has had any negative mood impacts.)

RvD2 -- a short film

  • Apr. 3rd, 2008 at 9:16 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
I was wandering around my computer and came across the DivX version of Ryan vs Dorkman 2, a fan-made short about two guys who have a light saber duel to the death in, I believe, an empty taco factory. I haven't watched that in weeks!

This has got to be the best fan-made anything with a light saber fight, granted these guys are pretty adept with Adobe AfterEffects and after this short was made one of them did work at LucasArts for about a year.

Still, forget that it's origins are nerdy. It's just a really good short film.

First, if you haven't, go check it out at: RyanvsDorkman.com. Just click on the heading at the top right that says "Ryan vs Dorkman 2" and then, I strongly recommend, download the DivX high-def version.

Or, if you're in a hurry, check it out on YouTube, but I'm telling you, it is amazing in high-def.

So why is this a great short?

Mar. 31st, 2008

  • 2:44 AM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
This is a tad different: http://cubo.cc/, it would certainly make a weird screen saver.

Lucifer!

  • Mar. 30th, 2008 at 12:15 AM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
I'm re-reading the Lucifer graphic novels (i.e., comic books) which I read a few months ago. The first time I read them slightly out of order - I was just impatient. This time, even though I am still in vol. 1, I can see little things which later became big things.

Lucifer is a spin-off from Neil Gaiman's Sandman. In the Sandman series Lucifer quit as Lord of Hell, turning the keys over to someone else. In this series we see he has opened a piano bar in LA. But rapidly becomes involved in some intrigue and see what he really wants: a "Letter of Passage" from his father (that would be God).

This version of Lucifer is very much in favor of free will, it was to seek his own destiny which, in this storyline, lead him to rebel against heaven with all that Miltonian stuff. But this is not at all fixed with a standard Christian version, there are gods from other religions and pantheons, and some brief cameos from the Endless.

He's very smart, very sneaky, and not always nice, but a very good protagonist for a series that literally bounces back across the universe and the ends of time. I should add that he is always considerate of Mazikeen, a descendant of the biblical Lilith, who wears a mask with obscures the left side of her face.... Mazikeen is a good character too...

The Wikipedia article on this graphic novel series is here.

Vertigo (part of DC) lets you download a pdf of all or part of the first comic here.

That's it, just wanted to share.


click for larger version!

Ack! More snow!

  • Mar. 28th, 2008 at 1:27 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
More snow fell last night in upstate New York. Ugh!

Luckily it apparently is melting already. I took some pictures from inside the house (I'm not going outside!) and I'm not sure they convey the horror of looking out the window and seeing every horizontal surface covered with snow. But, we'll give it a try...




Abner Doubleday and Niles Crane

  • Mar. 26th, 2008 at 8:44 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
I wandered around downtown Saratoga Springs yesterday, taking pictures mainly in Congress Park, including some shots of mallards I posted yesterday. Earlier today I went to downtown Ballston Spa and wandered around taking pictures, although nothing really lept out a good shot.

Mallards

  • Mar. 26th, 2008 at 1:38 PM
lucifer, irked, gallimimus, infinite_hall, titanium spork, helium, penguin, Ethelred, juliesimone, flagtech, renderosity
Taken yesterday in Congress Park in downtown Saratoga Springs.



click for larger version


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Profile

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My Horoscope

Good looks and a charming personality can only get you so far in life, which is good news, considering you have neither.

Creative fulfillment will finally be yours this Thursday when the ping-pong ball bounces off the wall, ricochets over the pool table, and lands squarely inside that red plastic cup.

Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you, but not a day goes by that you don't regret becoming a professor of Ursine Studies.

They say it's easier to tear something down than it is to build it up, but what do you expect when you take your philosophy from the guys at Acme Wrecking?

After months of backbreaking effort, you'll finally finish your first novel. Now, imagine how difficult it'd be to actually write one!

Depression will soon wash over you like a giant wave, signaling your first contact with fresh water in almost three weeks.

The rise of Venus in your sign can only mean one thing: This will be a great week to read too much into arbitrary events in the universe!

You'll receive a giant burst of energy halfway through the week, thanks to lax safety regulations and an overheated nuclear reactor.

You'll cry yourself to sleep yet again tonight, much to the envy of insomniacs across the country.

Although not usually the sentimental sort, you will nonetheless be moved to tears this week by three shattered ribs.

You used to think of yourself as your own harshest critic; sadly, it's becoming increasingly clear that you're pathetic at that, too.

What at first appears to be a curse will turn out to be a blessing in disguise, or so you'll believe before discovering that the blessing is actually an even bigger, more physically perilous curse in an even more convincing disguise.

Just when your life seems to be a never-ending series of miseries, disappointments, and small disasters, it will surprise you by abruptly ending.

This week, your ceaseless letter writing will finally put an end to General Electric's policy of reading letters.

The stars will send you a special message this week, but since they are hundreds of lightyears away you'll be long dead by the time it reaches Earth.

The position of stars in the sky, along with that of the moon and outlying planets, combined with your lack of basic scientific knowledge can mean only one thing: Your gullibility will continue unabated.



--------
By Lloyd Schumner Sr.
Retired Machinist and A.A.P.B-Certified Astrologer
Updated When I Feel Like It
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