Archive for January, 2006
1/1/2006
The biggest difference between NYE/NYD last year and this year is that I got to see the ball drop on tv in New York. Last year I didn’t see it and I think that spawned some bad luck. Well, no bad luck this year. I was parked in front of the tv and saw the whole thing. ;-)
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1/2/2006
I’ve been tinkering with my new Toshiba 26″ 26HF85 HDTV monitor. Man is this thing amazing. I won’t be getting satellite television until Tuesday-ish so I’ve been playing DVD movies all day since I got it.
Small side note: I find it ironic that I used to have my internet and television and now I will have them both through satellite. That’s funny.
So anyway, here’s what I’ve learned about DVD’s and widescreen HDTV monitors.
1. Some movies do not take up the full screen.
I have five view settings on this tv. Natural, Widescreen 1, 2, 3 and Full. The one that counts is Full. Star Wars DVD’s will take up most of the screen. Disney DVD’s take up all of the screen, and everything else takes most of the screen. Even for the DVD’s in the “most” department, the bars at the top and bottom of the screen are very small so it’s okay.
2. Yep, it’s a monitor.
This is a good thing. The picture quality is incredible. Text on screen is more readable, all subtitles on DVD’s have no “blockiness” to them at all and it’s just plain cool. Bear in mind this is a middle-of-the-road HDTV monitor, not a premium… but it sure acts like a premium.
3. Color is wonderful.
I love the color on this thing. Warm is actually warm and not just “red”, cool is cool and not just “blue” and you can see a lot of stuff you don’t see on a normal television.
4. Audio is great!
The audio is crisp, clear and you hear more things in movies. I thought my old Sony had good sound, but this thing… wow. It’s amazing how far tv tech can go in five years. The best part is that I don’t have to turn it up just to hear stuff. I can keep things at a lower level and still hear everything.
I’m very pleased with it. ;-)
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1/3/2006
I made an accouncement on the main site that I won’t be doing any more updating for a while. I’ve pretty much said all I’ve had to say there for the time being. People I know/knew have been reading it every single time I made an update so I know it’s been read.
I also went to Wal-Mart to check out some desks and didn’t like their selection at all. Either they were too big, too small or not what I wanted. I wish that someone would make a plain desk, as in four legs and a top. No trays underneath, no cubbyholes on the sides or on top, no built-in shelves, just a plain sturdy desk. Correction, a plain study lightweight desk, because I have to carry the thing up a flight of stairs. Alas, none are to be found. That being the case, I’m going to build my desks instead. I need two of them so I can set up my home studio once again. I believe that Home Depot might have some small desk kits you can buy and I’m hoping they cost under $75.00. I see no reason that a plain desk (at today’s prices) should cost more than that to build. And seriously, it shouldn’t. It’s not like I’m going to build the thing out of hand crafted mahogany.
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1/4/2006
Due to a screw-up by my Pop my only existing VHS copy of Frosted TV was erased. I was pissed off. Really pissed off. This means the only copy I had left was burnt to six CD’s (this was in the days before I had DVD-burn capability). Each CD’s file was put together to create one monster 15GB DV AVI file.
As I was attempting to copy CD #4 to my computer it had a tiny read error that prevented the file from being copied. I freaked out. I then used Nero Burning ROM to attempt to make a copy of that disc guessing that it would overlook that small read error - and it did.
Whew.
After that I spent all night learning DVD Authoring. I tried out several different programs and then finally found a method that worked for me where I could author it menu/sub-menu style like “Play Movie” and “Scenes” and “Bonus Features”. Speaking of which, I was able to figure out how to make subtitles. That kicks ass.
After I finally got a version of Frosted TV that I liked, I called Ben up and informed him I would be sending him a copy. Him and I talked for a while and are considering making the comedy movie that we’ve been talking about for years. A lot of ideas are flying around right now, and hey, maybe I’ll actually get to do it, who knows.
Further bulletins as events warrant on that one. ;-)
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1/4/2006
Earlier today as I was out shopping I had to get something to eat so I stopped at a fast food place. Now honestly, I don’t have to state which fast food place it was because they’re all the same. You get a burger that tastes like masking tape with cheese on it, salt pretending to be fries, chicken nuggets that only taste like chicken because you think they do and soda from a fountain machine that has way too much syrup mix in it.
More or less the second I got done eating that crap my body told me “You shouldn’t have done that”. And right now I’m on the privy typing this blog entry with so much crap (literally) coming out of me I’ve had to courtesy flush already.
Disgusting? Yes. I’m writing this to remind myself that fast food really isn’t good for me, I always pay the price later and no matter how fast and/or cheap it is, it’s just not worth it.
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1/5/2006
Ben called yesterday and we had one of which I’m sure to be many conversations concerning the whole movie thing. Of the things we talked about, here are a few:
- Prop cars
We need at least two. Ben already has a piece-of-shit ‘84 Cavalier station wagon which would be the hero-mobile. Another would be needed for stunt work.
- Showing the movie in an actual theater
This is something I’ve always wanted to do. For whatever movie I make, I want an actual showing in a real movie theater. There is a particular theater I want it to be shown in. I’ve already e-mailed Ben and asked that he called the theater to find out if I can actually rent it or not.
- Actors
I’ll be honest, I’m not looking for genius actors or anything like that… just locals who would like to be in a flick.
I also think I may have an actual storyline. I haven’t started the screenplay yet but I’ll get to that soon. Should be fun to write and trade ideas with Ben about it.
Oh, and that "how great minds think" thing is an inside joke. Ben and I constantly joke about how we would probably become celebrities just by acting like idiots.
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1/6/2006
I’ve been out of Connecticut for over a month now and only just recently did I go to the post office and finally file a change of address form. Today I got all the mail that was holed up in Connecticut. Lots of junk, both consumer and business related. (Small side note: I get lots of promotional stuff for the biz in my postal mail still to this day.)
One promotional thing in particular caught my eye. There was a $50 credit for Google AdWords. Hmm. This I could actually use. So I did. I signed up for AdWords and used the credit. The cool thing about AdWords is that you can stretch out the campaign for quite a long time. I should be able to get a month’s worth of free advertising out of this. Whether it will actually work or not doesn’t matter. Fifty bucks of free advertising is nothing to throw away and I’ll take all I can get.
I also received some really cool magazines. I got Fortune Small Business (they keep sending me them, I’ve never paid for them), Millimeter, a filmmaking mag and another “Indie” mag which is also for filmmakers.
Free is good. You wouldn’t believe some of the lavish stuff I get in the mail. I mean, we’re talking full color laminated stuff. Some of it is very impressive. 98% of it is crap, but that small 2% sometimes has some really good free stuff.
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1/7/2006
I’m taking a small break from a redesign of menga dot net right now. I’ve decided that with the redesign I will link my blog. As far as I’m concerned, it’s time.
Concerning any rumors circulating around about me, they’re all true. Or they’re all false. It’s 50/50. Or 70/30. Maybe 30/70? Gotta love those gossipy people. Especially the ones who read this and say to themselves HOLY SHIT! HE’S BLOGGING AGAIN! and then read and read and read and well… you get the idea. I’ll give ‘em credit, they rake in the web site hits and increase my site’s popularity. If you happen to be one of those people, I’m sure you’ll read every single thing since since last you knew of my blog, so go ahead. Infuse yourself with the boredom that is my random ramblings. ;-)
I blogged about this a while back but my Pop is doing okay. While he still hasn’t regained full mobility just yet, he should be able to move around on his own in a few weeks. Maybe less.
Yes, it’s true, I’m in the process of writing a full length movie. The goal is around 80 minutes. Whether it will actually happen or not is dependent on a few factors (none of which are too interesting to mention here), but as I blogged about just recently, my goal is to have an actual showing in a real movie theater. I think that would be just plain cool.
It’s also true I will be releasing (sooner or later) a collection of my music stuff. It will be available to purchase on compact disc thru CafePress. Honestly speaking I don’t care if anyone buys it, I just want to do it to say “I released something”. It will have full liner notes and maybe some pics. None of it will be anything that anyone’s heard before that know my previous works.
..aaaaaand that’s about it. Now you can commence visiting my site five times a day to see if I’ve written anything new, because, well… you have no life. ;-)
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1/8/2006
With my trusty copy of Final Draft I have begun writing the screenplay for B&R - The Movie. The initial writing process to me is nothing short of a huge pain in the ass. This is mostly because I have 10,000 ideas inside my head and it’s very difficult to get those things down on paper (or rather, laptop).
But as luck would have it the writing isn’t proving to be extremely difficult. It’s still difficult, just not extremely. I have the initial idea in place where yes, there is an actual plot and I’m now in the process of introducing characters before hitting plot point 1. Those who do screenplays are all too familiar with plot points. I haven’t gotten that far yet but hopefully I soon will be.
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1/8/2006
Earlier today:
I’m fueling up at the gas station. A lady pulls up behind me to put gas in her car. I finish pumping my gas, go inside to pay, then come back out. I get in my vehicle, start it and am about to head out. The lady behind me sees that I’m ready to pull forward and leave but then backs up herself and heads out (guess she couldn’t wait the extra thirty seconds).
I’m on my way home and I know my route. The GPS has allowed me to try several different ways home and I pick the one I always go by. I turn down a side street and who do I see? The same lady turning around because she’s lost - and she’s a local.
–
It simply amazes me to no end how many people don’t know where they’re going in their own home town. I am hoping that the auto manufacturers will wise up and start putting GPS as a standard - or at least an optional - feature in all cars, including the smaller ones. I can honestly say (if I haven’t said it enough) that GPS is the best darn vehicle accessory I’ve ever purchased, hands down. I use it so much that if given the choice between radio or GPS, I’d take GPS without hestitation, tunes be darned.
Right now you can get GPS on most middle to high end cars and trucks, but it’s still not available on most smaller affordable cars. If you go back through my blog entries here, you’ll see I’m a huge fan of GPS. It is undoubtedly the best thing to happen to driving in a very long time. I recommend to anyone to get a GPS. You can now buy one for just over 300 bucks.
Some would say “Pff.. I’ll just read a map.” Everyone says that until they actually use GPS and then they never go back. Repeat: They never go back. Reading a map compared to GPS is analogous to using tin cans tied with a string compared to a phone. The difference is like night and day.
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