10.06.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Life at 10:34 am by Fletcher
Wow - I hit a new milestone this week.
The fiancee and I went grocery shopping.
Since my local supermaket shut down and opened a mega center about 3 miles away, buying a lot of groceries less often; with the assistance of the fiancee’s wheels; makes the most sense.
This is the first time in my adult life that I have ever filled up an entire grocery cart.
I’ve always been the ’single guy with the hand basket’ type - buying for a day or two. Now that I have to plan ahead (and that my sweetie loves my cooking) buying in bulk is the new shopping style it appears…
This is the first time in my life I’ve ever gotten sticker shock from grocery shopping too…
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10.02.08
Posted in Art at 1:54 pm by Fletcher
Between wedding plans, visits from the parents, the job - who has time to paint?
I do.
I’m trying to get a couple of paintings into a show at CSU, so I’ve been working on that - plus trying some watercolors for our ‘Save the Date’ invites as well as the actual wedding invitations.
And managed to squeeze out this little gem; inspired by the ‘A Painting a Day’ blog.
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09.14.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Life at 4:28 pm by Fletcher
And I’ve got proof.
We returned from a long day at the mall, doing the registering for The Registry thang, (Macy’s - in case you need to send us a gift, large screen TV’s are the fave at the moment) and as I started boiling some water for some pasta, darling wife to be lets out a delighted yell of excitement.
I inquire as to what is so exciting and she points to an email onscreen:
We would like to make you our featured blog of the week! We love your blog and hope you continue to post and share your experiences with your fellow members of The Knot.
The new featured blog of the week is posted on Fridays on the “Talk” page.
Congratulations and enjoy your planning!
Wow - I am impressed. Especially since a few of those posts, I helped co-author… But still it is 90% her creativity and certainly %100 her inspiration.
You can read the Adventures of the TheWordBaker here.
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09.10.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:09 am by Fletcher
In keeping up with the potential alien invasion scenario - I came across this photo:
Guess I can relax now.
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09.09.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Life at 11:57 am by Fletcher
Being a geek in a relative nature, I’ve read with great interest about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that was built at CERN. According to their press releases:
Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, better known by its French acronym, CERN, are planning to send a beam of particles racing around the 27-kilometer ring of the Large Hadron Collider for the first time.
The LHC, as it’s known, is the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. CERN physicist Tejinder Virdee says it’s designed to explore some of the most fundamental questions in physics.
Other experiments, when it start Sept. 10, will include the formation of ‘micro-black holes’. And it was experiments like that that caught my attention.
Its funny, I thought - it sounds very similar to a video game I played and have been a fan of for a long time: Half-Life.
A plot summary from IMDB:
You play Gordan Freeman, a research scientist who participate in material testing in the massive Black Mesa Research Complex. However, something goes horribly wrong in one experiment that creates an inter-dimensional rift that devastates the complex. Now you must make your way through the crippled halls of the complex as you face dangers both alien and human.
Funny, when I looked that up, I came across its release date: 1998. 10 years ago - has it really been that long? I remember being blown away by its immersion - no cut scenes, no exposition, you lived the story as you played it. I mean, it RULED. It had a PLOT (and one more than - shoot everything that moves) and the plot was intense. And it just kept getting worse. You cause a catastrophe, only to be tasked with reaching the surface to get help - battling weird monsters all the way - and when you get there, you discover the army has been called in to clean up everything, including you. And the people in the world had personalities, you actually felt a little bad when you came across a scientist, and you tried to help them escape, only to be eaten by some nameless monster a few minutes later…
So, it seemed a case of life imitating art - funny how that happens - when I discovered that I’m not the only one who feels that way: It seems that a bunch of people got together and purchased a crowbar (one of the first, and most signature weapons featured in the game, useful for bashing aliens with or tearing apart supply crates for health and ammo) and sent it to the good folks at CERN, with a note explaining its purpose and use.
Just in case.
So, come tomorrow - we could be fighting off an alien invasion. We could be up to our necks in headcrab infested zombies. Or, if that doesn’t happen; my local supermarket is closing down; forcing me to go further away for ales to drink as I get reacquainted with a very good game that I haven’t played in a long time…
UPDATE - Looks like the guys at Reddit went even further .
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09.03.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Life at 1:32 pm by Fletcher
Been waaay to busy looking into wedding stuff - the fiancee & I interviewed a photographer this morning. Since she is the supervisor, she is much better at the ’stony faced’ interviewing process than I. But still, it is fun to tag along and ask a bajillion questions and do that couple stuff. A full rundown as to what we’ve been up to (including some very funny entries by the Bride to be) can be found here.
Man, I really need to research more on that Honeymoon…
Anyway - she’s sleeping on the couch, so I gotta type this quietly. I saw the best Beastie Boy imitation ever - ‘The Awkward Rap’ watch it if you need a Beastie fix, or a good laugh.
Also: I’m SO CLOSE to finishing my last commission - I just gotta hammer out some details and make a few people in it look less scary. I cannot wait to post it.
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08.28.08
Posted in Film at 9:46 am by Fletcher
Straight from The Director himself:
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We are very proud to announce that “Sovereignty” will be awarded the honor of Best Narrative Short Film at the Peace on Earth Film Festival in Chicago this weekend! And then you’ve got 4 big chances to see “Sovereignty” in NY, LA, Chicago and Canada in the coming 5 weeks!
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This weekend “Sovereignty” keeps on churnin’ along as we head to the Peace on Earth Film Festival this Sunday 8/31 at 6pm in beautiful Chicago, IL. Click here for directions.
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Two weeks later, we go international at the Non-Violence International Film Festival in Onterio, Canada on September 14th, 19th and 20th. Click here for showtimes and directions.
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Then… we swing back to New York for for the exciting Coney Island Film Festival September 26-28. Check back for showtimes and directions.
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And finally, (for now) if you happen to be one of those rare film buffs in the tiny hamlet of Hollywood, CA we will be in the prestigious Artivist Film Festival which takes place October 2-5. Check back for showtimes and directions. We sure hope you can make it to one of these screening and support our little film that could!
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Come see why Greg Robson from ResidentMediaPundit.com raves “…equal parts comedic, sardonic and moving…gripping…a veritable call to arms. If only all films could do such things.”
If you have the opportunity - go see it. If only for my contribution of gallons upon gallons of fake blood!
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08.26.08
Posted in Art at 1:06 pm by Fletcher
Another painting I had done to potentially sell as a commission. This one I happened upon whilst walking home one cold January night. I had gotten off of work at the Archive and was rushing home to hug my radiator, when I was struck by the light surrounding a pizza joint on 33rd St. The scene looked like it was straight out of a Hopper painting - and despite my shivering, I was able to pull off a shot of it…
And you know - I never had a slice from that place either…
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08.21.08
Posted in Art at 1:58 pm by Fletcher
Since the second of my commissions is rapidly coming to a finish - I feel it is now safe to show off what I have been working on - but unable to show for fear that the recipient might see.
I came across this place on one of my epic walks with my bride to be - we would hit the streets of NYC on her visits and just go… No direction, no agenda. Walking for the sheer pleasure of it. She got to see parts of the city she would never have come across on her own, and I would use it as a reason to trek thru parts of town I normally would not see.
I love it for its beat up failure. The dreams of some hardworking immigrant gone by the wayside. Was it health violations? Did the family move? Were they beaten by the chino-latino joint down the block? I could only see paper cartons filled with noodles being eaten by busy office workers, who were one day forced to go somewhere else because their fave lunch place had closed.
Man, I embrace my dark nature.
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08.18.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:45 pm by Fletcher
I get a regular delivery of a design magazine; since they offered it to me for free. I don’t really read it as much as check out some of the interesting snippets of what advertisers are doing. Since I consider most of them to be the most vile of creatures - playing on our weaknesses, fears and image issues - I gotta keep an eye on them.
I was taken aback when I was looking at their latest self-congratulatory article (and it seems like EVERY issue has some sort of ‘awards’ fluff piece: 9 outta 10 sycophants agree; the Advertising that appealed to Most Internet Pervs is….) when I turned the page and saw this ad for an advertising technique:
For those who are too busy to click on the thumbnail: its a ‘Peel & Lick’ form of advertising. This one in particular is a ‘taste’ of Welch’s Grape juice.
Are these guys #^@%(^! kidding me? I’d just as soon take a syringe from a bum in Junkie Alley and jab it into my neck. This is a throwback to John Waters ‘Polyester’ which used Smello-vision:
Odors, especially Francine’s particularly keen sense of smell, play an important role in the film. To highlight this, Waters designed Odorama, a “scratch-and-sniff” gimmick inspired by the work of William Castle and the 1960 film Scent of Mystery, which featured a device called Smell-O-Vision. Special cards with spots numbered 1 through 10 were distributed to audience members before the show, in the manner of 3D glasses. When a number flashed on the screen, viewers were to scratch and sniff the appropriate spot. Smells included the scent of flowers, pizza, glue, gas, grass, and feces.
Does anyone else see the potential for evil here? ‘Hey, lets get people to try what they think is grape juice, but then switch it with 2 month old gym sock juice!’ Has anyone even tried these? What kind of weird cancer causing chemicals do they make these things out of? ‘Hey, lets add isoamyl acetate with potassium hydroxide and see if people will lick that!’
I’ll give away a free copy of Half Life 2: Episode One to anyone who will try it.
UPDATE: It seems I am not the only person who feels this way. Read page 2 to get the icky feelings…
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