No updates in nearly a month. Soon to be rectified. I’ve just been lazy. Currently redesigning website / portfolio. I think I’ll go with a paper theme.
General
So, I’m working on a paper cut out stop motion animation w/ Xue. You can find some really pretty documentation on her blog
My camera is still defunct, which is why I don’t have any documentation of the above. Looking to buy a new one. I spent a weekend playing around with the new Lumix DMC-LX3. It’s pretty sexy and after playing around with the one in the ER for a few days, I think I want it. Unfortunately it’s sold out. 
I’ve been working hard on a Facebook game for WaterAid America with Scott and Asli. It’s coming along nicely, though of course delayed (as these things often are). We’d hoped to be done by this friday but most likely it’ll be another week before we start any sort of serious user testing and another month before the game is in a state to be released to the slavering masses.
My last summer project is going to be located at maximumcuteness.com. It’s pretty much what it sounds like, but that’s the only hint i’ll give about it ^_^
Also, it’s about high time this website got a new look. I’m definetly tired of this one.
So my internet conks out last night. I call up optimum and they’re pretty helpful. Run some tests and tell me there’s a minor outage in the area. Wait a couple hours and it should be back up. A bit inconvenient, but fine.
I wake up 12 hours later and still no internet I call them up, but I dont think the morning crew has had their coffee or something. Here’s my conversation.
Me: Hey… my internet’s been out for about 12 hours now.
Guy: Hm, you tried unplugging it?
Me: Yup.
Guy: “How many lights do you see?”
Me: One steady. One blinking.
Guy: Sounds like you’re screwed. Tell you what. I’ll have a guy come and look at it… when’s the most inconvenient time possible for you?
Me: …
Guy: Alright, tomorrow btwn 2pm and 5pm it is. Lol. You’re not gonna get anything done that you were planning to do.
Me: Any possibility of squeezing me in today or on the weekend?
Guy: Nope.
Me: Oh.
Anyhow. I go outside to ride over to someplace with internet. First thing I see when I’m outside is an Optimum Online truck … pulling out from the curb right in front of my house. Great.
We happen to be going in the same direction, so I’m riding my bike behind it. We turn the corner and… two more optimum online trucks. One parked looking at wires overhead. The other one eating a sandwich and having a conversation with the guy above him.
T_T
Guy: Lol
Recently dodged a bullet with the whole jury duty thing. That woulda ruined a so-far great summer. Current projects in the works: A facebook game, A sweet stop-motion animation, and a new website.
So yea, I went skydiving for the first time today. It was pretty awesome. Pics/vids to come.
Ah… KarmaKula. I’ve reserved judgements until now and I’m still not sure what I think. I enjoyed Ninjai, and was hoping for more of the same overall awesomeness. Alas, I’m a bit disappointed. It’s kind of like a slow motion train wreck. You want to stop, but you just keep on watching it.
First of all, let me say, it’s not all bad. In fact, there’s quite alot I like about it. The fight choreography is quite excellent and the costume and set design if very good as well, even if a bit too clean at times. The special effects are pretty well done for an independent group too.
What really bugs me though is the voice of the actor playing the KarmaKula. It annoys me sooo much. He gives his lines without much emotion, and it comes out so badly. I get that maybe he’s supposed to be this emotionless bad ass, but it just doesnt work for me. The bad dialogue he’s made to say doesn’t help much either.
Anyway, it’s been getting a little better every episode (the plot, not his bad dialogue and voice acting), so we’ll see how it goes.
This past weekend I took part in the Global Game Jam. It was an intense 48 hours of game making madness. My group had 5 members and we made a game called Sciencology, a battle between two rival scientists.
You can find the game here: http://globalgamejam.org/games/sciencology .
We started with really lofty goals, but managed to cut out just enough to make it work. Overall, I’m satisfied with the game.
So I saw Waltz with Bashir a few weeks ago and I have to admit, I was impressed. Setting the story aside, the animation was beautiful. Very crisp and clear and a mix of different styles were used to great effect.
I was actually pretty disappointed at the end of the movie. I think they were trying to go for some sort of shock value, but they failed in that. I actually got more emotion from the scene right before the end where he’s walking through the sea of mourning women than from the real footage. But that’s the only place where I felt the movie failed. The storyline was very engaging.
Ever since the collections services cracked down on the number of stray dogs roaming the streets in brooklyn (seriously, i havn’t seen a stray dog in over 3 years!), the number of stray cats has risen tremendously. Were the dogs eating the cats before this? Or perhaps it was a lack of food resources with both cats and dogs roaming around? Anyway, the stray cat population has gone up. I suspect this is also because it’s alot harder to catch a cat than a dog.
Which brings me to Felix. Felix is the name I’ve given to a black and white stray cat that roams around the block I live. Felix has an obsession with my garage. I suspect this is because it’s cold outside and my garage exudes heat. So every so often, as I’m outside sweeping up leaves and the random garbage that passerbys feel is OK to drop in my space, along comes Felix.
His usual pattern is to watch me, and then slowly, cat-like, slip past or behind me when I’m not looking and into the garage. Or rather, that’s what he would do if I weren’t vigilant like a hawk. He’s gotten past me once without me noticing. I just saw the end of his tail dissapear under the old broken-down Bug that’s sitting in there. I was in a rush that morning so I just closed the door and forgot about it.
Now, I usually enter and exit my place through the garage every day, so I expected he’d leave after a day. Nope! 4 days later Felix finally pokes his head out, looking all kinds of weak and waits for me to turn my back before finally leaving. I saw him again today. He tried to get in again. I really wanna take a picture of him as he tries to sneak past. It’s hilariously cute.