Annnnnnnd, they'reoff! Papagenothehedgehog takes an early leadclockinginat six thousandfivehundredwordsinthefirstfivedays...shesbeenpracticingformonths...following behindis Baileyanne withthreethousandthreehundredwords...abitofarockystartduetolostpaperwork. Therrrrrres Jehhhhhhosopat cominginbehindwithjustunderfivehundredwords ...shemissedthestartinggun... WHO willcomeoutontop?
Okay, that was probably obnoxious to read. That was my update on the progress of my NaNoWriMo buddies. I'm going to make it a habit I think to update (not quite so annoyingly) with the latest word count. As a comparison, I will also post my total word count for the month of November. Including this post, my word count is currently at 2628 words. I probably won't make the 50,000 word mark myself, but I could see 20,000 words being tapped out. We'll see.
I found out today that the copy of "The Perfect Crime" that I sent to the Decemberists has a major continuity error in the alternate ending. The agent (Darren) leans down to see the burglars breaking into the bank safe, then there is a cutaway shot to the Mogul's daughter looking in through the window. Unfortunately I learned this when my video was being shown to the entire school. Thankfully not too many people noticed. I am currently fixing it and recompressing. I need to make sure my final DVD is perfect as I will be presenting it as part of my application to NESCOM. I also presented my trailer for the Hazards of Love to the school. I heard a couple "wow"s thrown in amonst the applause, so I'm pretty happy. I got the student of the month award soon after I finished presenting my video. So overall today is going quite well.
Planning on getting crackin' tomorrow or Monday.
The school officially blocked Facebook today, with Mrs. Criss comparing student Facebook users to "crack addicts." There was much hushed whispering as students turned to one one another "Oh no! I just planted my crops this morning! What am I gonna do?" Since the beginning of the year, Farmville has accounted for 72% of server usage at WHS. If that isn't crack addiction, I don't know what is. I find the new restriction irritating, but not too big of a problem. I use Facebook to communicate with my actors and to promote the Teach@15 contest for Winthrop. All acceptable uses of the media I believe. Ah well, I'll just have to use this blog and Ning to get my social media in at school.
That's all for today folks.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
FLYING PIGS!
Alright, so not the most original post title, but swine flu is the most talked about thing these days. Time for me to lay out my thoughts on the subject.
The first thing I heard about swine flu was this. At first I thought it was another of Randall Munroe's creations but the very next day there were people discussing the "plague." I nearly cried when I learned that Egypt had slaughtered nearly all the pigs in the country. WASTE OF BACON. Seriously.
Oh, and just in case you haven't heard it before, "Many people said that the US would have a black president when pigs fly. Sure enough, 100 days into Obama's presidency, SWINE FLU!" That just cracks me up.
Slowly, as the initial doomsday panic faded, facts were brought to the surface and swine flu was brought into light as a flu that is deadly in some cases and more contagious than most strains. So, in my opinion it doesn't deserve the "plague" label that it has gotten in some cases. I applaud the rapid response to the outbreak by medical officials, it proves that if we do encounter an ebola type virus that is rapidly transmittable, we might have a chance. I just don't think that swine flu is as dangerous as it is made out to be. And as horrible as it may be, we can't stop every death from disease, it wouldn't be a terribly good idea anyways. I look at it this way, swine flu has killed about six thousand people worldwide so far according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). 220,000 Americans die every six months from smoking. Swine flu isn't the biggest pandemic out there by a long shot. Also, more than four million Americans are born each year. That number is terrifying to me. I estimate that the worldwide deaths related to swine flu will not exceed 50,000 people. Which is unfortunate, but 259,000 births per day worldwide rather offsets those losses. Call me heartless, but that's my stance.
As for the vaccine? I see it this way. If I take it, I'll likely become immune to swine flu. Good, yes? Well I suppose, but my immune system is very robust and the likelihood of infection is slim for me anyways. However, If I don't take the vaccine, there is a small possibility I'll die of swine flu. Bummer, right? Finally, there is the chance, however slim, that the vaccine will turn everyone into mindless attack zombies and I will become one of the few remaining normal humans. I will fight off the encroaching hordes of "swinies" with my fellow non-vaccinated bretheren and rebuild society!
Weighing my options carefully, I have opted to not take the vaccine.
The first thing I heard about swine flu was this. At first I thought it was another of Randall Munroe's creations but the very next day there were people discussing the "plague." I nearly cried when I learned that Egypt had slaughtered nearly all the pigs in the country. WASTE OF BACON. Seriously.
Oh, and just in case you haven't heard it before, "Many people said that the US would have a black president when pigs fly. Sure enough, 100 days into Obama's presidency, SWINE FLU!" That just cracks me up.
Slowly, as the initial doomsday panic faded, facts were brought to the surface and swine flu was brought into light as a flu that is deadly in some cases and more contagious than most strains. So, in my opinion it doesn't deserve the "plague" label that it has gotten in some cases. I applaud the rapid response to the outbreak by medical officials, it proves that if we do encounter an ebola type virus that is rapidly transmittable, we might have a chance. I just don't think that swine flu is as dangerous as it is made out to be. And as horrible as it may be, we can't stop every death from disease, it wouldn't be a terribly good idea anyways. I look at it this way, swine flu has killed about six thousand people worldwide so far according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). 220,000 Americans die every six months from smoking. Swine flu isn't the biggest pandemic out there by a long shot. Also, more than four million Americans are born each year. That number is terrifying to me. I estimate that the worldwide deaths related to swine flu will not exceed 50,000 people. Which is unfortunate, but 259,000 births per day worldwide rather offsets those losses. Call me heartless, but that's my stance.
As for the vaccine? I see it this way. If I take it, I'll likely become immune to swine flu. Good, yes? Well I suppose, but my immune system is very robust and the likelihood of infection is slim for me anyways. However, If I don't take the vaccine, there is a small possibility I'll die of swine flu. Bummer, right? Finally, there is the chance, however slim, that the vaccine will turn everyone into mindless attack zombies and I will become one of the few remaining normal humans. I will fight off the encroaching hordes of "swinies" with my fellow non-vaccinated bretheren and rebuild society!
Weighing my options carefully, I have opted to not take the vaccine.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Video Update 2
I'm going to update my last post when I get home and can look over my library of literature. In the meantime I thought I'd post an update with what is happening with my video projects.
Hazards on Hiatus
Not much is happening with The Hazards of Love right now, although the Decemberists themselves have commissioned some animators to create a "visualizer" for the album. At first I was worried but after watching the trailer I'm confident that my project is in an entirely different vein and need not be compared. I'm going to start talking with my actors tomorrow about costumes and such for the winter film dates.
Putt Putt Doc (site appears to be down)
Our computer troubles are behind us hopefully. We've gotten rid of the corrupted hard drive and had it replaced with a new terabyte drive. (That makes 2 terabytes of storage! Yay!) We are going to have to really crank it to get the documentary done on time. Allen (the director) got the credits I'd sent to him then realized they were missing the entire audio crew he was working with at the time. So when he gets back from Australia he is going to give us the complete list. I forsee much rendering in my future.
Mechuwana Promo
I've finally found the time to make some headway on the promo. Unfortunately I'm having the same issue I have when writing an essay. I spend oodles and oodles of time on my intro and just get stuck on it. If all goes well I should have it done by the deadline in December. I was trying to get some action shots in when I realized that while Mechuwana does have action, it is more of a place to find some peace, so I'm going to change my angle of attack in putting the whole thing together.
Get Crackin' Contest
We truly do need to get crackin'. All entries are due the 29th. The best videos that I've found from other contestants are here and here. I won't reveal our plan for the video but I will tell you that it will involve mad scientists and maybe even a mythological creature.
Rambler Productions Demo Reel
Pat and I may have hit on a theme for our demo reel. WHS in the future. Desks that are computers, buses that float, and learning machines with fatal consequences. Maybe even a field trip to the moon. This demo reel will be designed to show off just what we can accomplish in Video Production. I'm also thinking of ideas for a Rambler Productions banner that can be used when we sell DVD's and such.
Also, this is really really cool. Watch at least until the tutorial on lightning.
SO much that I want to blog about, stay tuned for rants about Firefly, Project Offset, artwork, and much much more!
Hazards on Hiatus
Not much is happening with The Hazards of Love right now, although the Decemberists themselves have commissioned some animators to create a "visualizer" for the album. At first I was worried but after watching the trailer I'm confident that my project is in an entirely different vein and need not be compared. I'm going to start talking with my actors tomorrow about costumes and such for the winter film dates.
Putt Putt Doc (site appears to be down)
Our computer troubles are behind us hopefully. We've gotten rid of the corrupted hard drive and had it replaced with a new terabyte drive. (That makes 2 terabytes of storage! Yay!) We are going to have to really crank it to get the documentary done on time. Allen (the director) got the credits I'd sent to him then realized they were missing the entire audio crew he was working with at the time. So when he gets back from Australia he is going to give us the complete list. I forsee much rendering in my future.
Mechuwana Promo
I've finally found the time to make some headway on the promo. Unfortunately I'm having the same issue I have when writing an essay. I spend oodles and oodles of time on my intro and just get stuck on it. If all goes well I should have it done by the deadline in December. I was trying to get some action shots in when I realized that while Mechuwana does have action, it is more of a place to find some peace, so I'm going to change my angle of attack in putting the whole thing together.
Get Crackin' Contest
We truly do need to get crackin'. All entries are due the 29th. The best videos that I've found from other contestants are here and here. I won't reveal our plan for the video but I will tell you that it will involve mad scientists and maybe even a mythological creature.
Rambler Productions Demo Reel
Pat and I may have hit on a theme for our demo reel. WHS in the future. Desks that are computers, buses that float, and learning machines with fatal consequences. Maybe even a field trip to the moon. This demo reel will be designed to show off just what we can accomplish in Video Production. I'm also thinking of ideas for a Rambler Productions banner that can be used when we sell DVD's and such.
Also, this is really really cool. Watch at least until the tutorial on lightning.
SO much that I want to blog about, stay tuned for rants about Firefly, Project Offset, artwork, and much much more!
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