Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Creative Hegemony -- Project 2 Cont.
Tyranny of Surf - Part 7
[Click HERE for a larger version]
I've completed the floral pattern for the surfboard using Adobe Illustrator. Two hours. Total time is now 30 hours, over 25 days.
If you want to follow the progression here are the links:
Tyranny of Surf - Part 1
Tyranny of Surf - Part 2
Tyranny of Surf - Part 2b
Tyranny of Surf - Part 3
Tyranny of Surf - Part 4
Tyranny of Surf - Part 5
Tyranny of Surf - Part 6
Tyranny of Surf - Part 6b
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posted by EL @ 11:09 AM,
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Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Creative Hegemony -- Project 2 Cont.
Spent four hours in Illustrator today, working on a tropical-floral vector shape to be used on the surfboard. I'm a novice on Illustrator so it's taking me longer to get this done than it would someone with far more experience-- it's looking pretty sharp nonetheless.
I do believe I'll be taking the time to reproduce plumeria in Illustrator as well. I have to do something to stay busy, and Illustrator is yet another program I need to be proficient in.
At some point this year I need to begin, in earnest, to learn Flash. There's money to be had in Flash.
Feed the BEE, Baby! Feed the BEE!
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posted by EL @ 5:42 PM,
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Intemperate Thoughts On this Day in History
Received in Email at work:
FYI from Corporate IT department.
Please be aware of the probability of a significant increase in Internet traffic today resulting from the worldwide media coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial. This traffic is expected to cause an extreme slowdown in Internet connectivity and in some cases a possible loss of access all together. With over 200 million people predicted to view the event on the Internet, mostly via streaming video, the heaviest impact will be felt between 12:00 – 4:00 today. Please consider these factors when prioritizing any work today that requires access to the Internet, such as OSI
usage.
Tom Johnson
Michael Jackson, Dead King of Pop, will stage his greatest performance today, so great in fact that many expect internet outages across the country and, who knows, perhaps around the globe.
In the process of killing America, Pelosi and Co, on June 26th, paused for a moment of silence in memory of Michael Jackson. While they were cramming that vomitously vile Cap and Trade down America's gullet, they paused to give reverence to a pedophile and drug addict... to a man who so hated the 'Man in the Mirror' he mutilated his own face and soul... to a man who so hated what he was he chose to be white instead. They all paused for a moment of silence for a man whose only claim to fame was being freakish. Talented beyond belief, but a freak all the same.
All this while others, whose passing were far nobler, were sadly forgotten.
Despite what you may think-- having read this far --I have only pity for Michael Jackson. May God have mercy on his soul.
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posted by EL @ 10:23 AM,
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Monday, July 6, 2009
Creative Hegemony -- Project 2 Cont.
Tyranny of Surf - Part 6b
[Click HERE for a larger version]
Okay, I didn't like the plumeria. No... I love plumeria, I just didn't like the plumeria I added today. Up until this point everything I've done has been without the use of photographs except for the sand's texture-- that IS a photographic overlay. I'm going to have to create my own floral elements.
Some new changes have been added, however. Look closely at the lip of the wave. I added some spattering, both top and bottom.
While I was out to lunch [literally] Ben added a couple of tweaks to the script. They didn't look bad at all, but I did add my own tweaks to his addition. He added two adjustment layers: Color Balance, and Curves.
To the Color Balance AL I deleted the portion that adjusted the "surface" of the extruded script, and dropped the opacity to 70%. To the Curves AL I added another point on the curve line and warped the line to create a second steeper drop in the curve. This heightened the reds in sides and shadows of the extruded script. I wouldn't have thought of this had Ben not stuck his two-cents in, so hat tip to Ben. Without my adjustments to his, the text overall was too red. By removing that part of the AL that made the scripts surface "reddish" I've maintained the yellow feel of the lettering, and keeping the reds gives the script more of a "Golden" look.
Add another hour and a half. Total: 25 and 1/2 hours.
Still to do:
- Some treatment to the Surfboard, utilizing the word "Tyranny".
- Some floral, aloha shirt-styled pattern, also to the surfboard.
- And of course, some plumeria, perhaps hibiscus.
I think I'm looking at a 60-70% completion in terms of time.
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posted by EL @ 5:16 PM,
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Creative Hegemony -- Project 2 Cont.
Tyranny of Surf - Part 6
[Click HERE for a larger version]
Add another 5 and a half hours of work on this one.
Changed color of script. Added plumeria blossoms (more to come). Gave the board a Hawaiian name. Worked on some floral patterns (incomplete and not added here). I've also muted the reflections on the wave-- it was too bright to suit me, so I'll figure that out later.
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posted by EL @ 1:54 PM,
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Friday, July 3, 2009
Pithy Review -- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
This film received horrible reviews, but then what do I care? I don't pay attention to reviews. I know what I like. I have been fooled before, but that wasn't the case here. Transformers 2 was two and a half hours long and at no point was I ever bored. In fact, the movie was over before I could honestly account for those two and a half hours.
In short, a great film, I will definitely buy this when the DVD is released. The only question I have now is... How long do I have to wait for Transformers 3?
On a side note/plot point.
Michael Bay must not be an Obama fan. Or if he is, he doesn't mind taking heavy pot-shots at him.
Right after the opening sequence an Obama-bot policy wonk arrives at the debriefing and begins to act like a typical liberal pansy know-it-all-- on the scene by Obama's order --who later shuts down the Autobots, by Obama's express command. This film takes delight in casting this man as a first class A-hole, who hasn't a clue about what he's gotten involved in.
So how do I know this guy's an Obama-wonk? Well, the film make express reference to "President Obama" being flown to a secure location somewhere in the midwest-- I couldn't fault Obama [even a fictitious movie Obama] running for ground. After all, a bunch of giant robots duking it out in awesome urban death matches? Best to keep the leader of the free world out of the way, lest he become so much toe jam..
Final analysis? I'd pay to see this movie again, and I did NOT pay matinee price on this one.
Saw a lot of kiddies with their parents, but there was way too much sexuality and crude jokes and imagery for the kiddies... in MY estimation. Too much foul language. I'd prefer ZERO JC's and GD's. If I had kids, I would have been embarrassed for them to see and hear those things, even in the context of a fun evening at the movies.
Labels: Movies, Pithy Reviews
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posted by EL @ 10:44 PM,
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Friday, June 26, 2009
Who To Believe? Irrelevant...
And I say irrelevant because of the audacity school systems in other states have already displayed in forcing children to march in gay pride parades. From OneNewsNow.com,
Chicago children march in gay pride parade...or not
According to the [Chicago] Tribune, the school's fence is adorned with thousands of green, blue, purple, and red strips of fabric -- each hand-tied by a student. A sign by the gate stated that the elementary school will "be the first Chicago public school to march in the city's gay pride parade." The sign also stated that the school believes that family means everybody.
According to the Chicago Tribune...
Think about this a moment. Children who are, by every standard, too young to make any critical decision on whether or not homosexuality is healthy-- let alone moral --without instruction from adults. It is the SCHOOL's belief that "family means everybody", not the children.
This is outrageous. American children are so far behind the rest of the world in the essentials of classical education; science, literature, history, you name it. But lessons American school children seem to excel in are multiculturalistic, humanistic hoo-haw, and social indoctrinational curriculums espoused by the liberal teachers unions. Our children are being taught to be liberals... not intelligent free-thinking individuals.
They can be taught that anal/oral sex, i.e.; Homosexuality and Lesbianism, are socially acceptable behaviors, but the Bible cannot even be allowed on campus, let alone its God invoked over lunch without consequence.
This is the world we live in: That which is moral is being taught to as immoral and hideous, while that which is immoral and hideous is being taught to as moral.
No wonder everyone is confused.
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posted by EL @ 12:39 PM,
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The Muslins of Faith and the Values They Spread
Let me ask you a question. Does God exist? And if so, which culture's interpretation of Him is most accurate? Is Hindu's depiction of the supreme being ("beings" in the case of the Hindu) the most faithful to what God Himself has revealed to man? What about Islam? Is Islam's vision of God the most faithful interpretation-- His intent and motives towards man? How about Judaism? Christianity? Which of these four major philosophies are the truest expression of the God of the Universe-- assuming He does indeed exist? What can we know about God from the teachings of each of these four disciplines?
Hinduism: from ReligionFacts.com
The most well-known Hindu saying about religion is: "Truth is one; sages call it by different names."
However, there are some beliefs common to nearly all forms of Hinduism that can be identified, and these basic beliefs are generally regarded as boundaries outside of which lies either heresy or non-Hindu religion. These fundamental Hindu beliefs include: the authority of the Vedas (the oldest Indian sacred texts) and the Brahmans (priests); the existence of an enduring soul that transmigrates from one body to another at death (reincarnation); and the law of karma that determines one's destiny both in this life and the next.
Note that a specific belief about God or gods is not considered one of the essentials, which is a major difference between Hinduism and strictly monotheistic religions like Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Sikhism. Most Hindus are devoted followers of one of the principal gods Shiva, Vishnu or Shakti, and often others besides, yet all these are regarded as manifestations of a single Reality.
The ultimate goal of all Hindus is release (moksha) from the cycle of rebirth (samsara). For those of a devotional bent, this means being in God's presence, while those of a philosophical persuasion look forward to uniting with God as a drop of rain merges with the sea.
"As a drop of rain merges with the sea"? Is that all God is? A bucket that eternally collects drops of water that drip from a cosmic spigot? Occasionally dropping some that evaporate and eventually find their way back to the spigot?
Naturally, as anyone who knows my religious bent can tell you, I reject this altogether. God is not so impersonal and devoid of compassion as to create us (assuming He does anything of the sort, according to the Vedas) only to take all our experiences upon death and absorb them for Himself, stripping the soul of any sense of personal identity.
What about Islam? Despite what the many Muslim websites that seek to educate westerners say, according to one Muslim convert to Christianity,
"...as a Muslim you don’t know if you go to heaven or not, because God is going to review your past, and it depends on how much good you’ve done. He decides. I wouldn’t know."In fairness to the genuine teachings of Islam, the Qu'ran teaches that Faith, not Works, gets one into heaven... or so say some Muslims. Most of modern Islam accepts "Suicide as Martyrdom" as a tenet of Islam. They accept terrorism as a legitimate tool of jihad. They accept the subjugation and brutalization of women. They accept the desire to see Israel utterly destroyed as a sanctioned tenet of Islam. In this, Islam and Christianity have one thing in common: They are both confused about what their sacred texts actually say. Another difference is, the teachings of Qu'ran are both confusing and contradictory from one Surah to the next. In contrast, Christianity (again, my personal bias is showing)-- it's text, the Bible --is a unified manuscript in both theme and message, despite being written by 40 writers over a period of some 1600 years. The Qu'ran cannot boast this even though written by a single man over the span of a single lifetime. To further cast doubt upon the Qu'ran is the division that occurred shortly after the death of Mohammed-- Shia and Sunni. Islam has been in conflict with itself ever since.
As to Christianity, it is an out-flowing from Judaism, a religion it is completely compatible with despite Christianity's rejection of Temple worship and many of the Levitical laws. All of Judaism is fulfilled and rolled over (401k-like) into Christianity in some form; Christ, second member of the Godhead and God incarnate, is the fulfillment of Old Testament worship.
Many non-believers view the teachings of the Bible as confusing, and to one extreme, a religion of blood. The difference here is not that blood permeates 'the muslin of the remission of sins, and of salvation,' but that it is the blood of a single man, the blood of God Himself, and not the blood of untold millions of infidels, the enemies of Allah.
The world, right now, is caught up in a moral struggle the likes of which the world has never seen. Three religions vie for dominance of the hearts and minds of peoples and cultures across the globe-- Atheism, Islam, and Judeo-Christianity. Atheism and Islam are both on the rise and account for the majority of hearts and minds in the world today. The Judeo-Christian faith has never been in dominance, though it has dominated era's. Christianity, unlike atheism, Islam, or even Hinduism is different in that no one is "born" a Christian. One must choose, in the fullness of one's allotted time, to be "born again"-- Christianity is a faith that depends solely upon volunteerism. The ranks of Christianity comprise what can only be described as a wholly "volunteer" army. Islam on the other hand, again in fine contradictory fashion, views man as created with free will for the sole purpose of obeying and serving God-- Born a Muslim, supposedly with free will, but given no choice but to obey and serve.
Setting Islam aside for a moment, if you judge the state of the world based upon atheism/human progressivism alone; the tenets they espouse, practice, and seek to impose upon the world, these are just some of the results:
Modern Slavery
- There are more slaves in the world today than in any other time in history, some 27 million.
- Bought for an average cost of only $90.
Abortion
- Scientists have created mice with human brains cells by injecting mice embryos with human embryonic stem cells.
- There are about 42 million abortions per year, or about 1.3 every second.
Homosexuality
- About half of male homosexuals die before age 42.
- 78% of homosexuals are affected by sexually transmitted diseases.
Euthanasia
- Colombia, the Netherlands (Holland) and Belgium have legalized euthanasia.
- 68% of the elderly in the Netherlands fear being killed without their consent.
The ACLU
- The ACLU defended the website of the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), which provides guidance on how to seduce and sexually molest boys without getting caught, yet sued to prevent the singing of Christmas Carols in public facilities.
- ACLU’s founder Roger Baldwin stated,” I am for socialism, disarmament, and, ultimately, for abolishing the state itself… I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and the sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.”
Proof of God’s Existence
- If an E. coli bacterium were disassembled into its component parts (atoms), the probability that it would spontaneously reassemble is estimated at one chance in 10100,000,000,000.
- How big is this number? Compare it to the number of atoms in the universe, which is 1080, and impossibility or the miraculous, which is anything less than 1 chance in 1050.
The Evolution Lie
- Proteins are needed to make DNA, yet DNA is needed to make the proteins that make the DNA!
- Evolution cannot explain how a system with multiple subsystems like the eye can evolve when all of the parts are needed for the system to function as a whole but none of the parts alone confer any survival advantage and so would not have been concentrated in the population.
Global Warming Scam
- Manmade CO2 is less than 1/1000th of total greenhouse gases. Water is by far the most predominant greenhouse gas!
- Newsweek stated in 1975 that global COOLING evidence has “begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up with it.”
World Government
- The European Union was formed by stealth over a fifty-year period by first uniting economically, which created the political infrastructure. It was then only a small step to political union. Before Europeans knew what hit them, the sovereignty of their countries was surrendered to the EU.
- The same thing is being engineered in America today by members of the CFR, Trilateral Commission and Bilderberg Group, globalist groups which have infiltrated the highest levels of power.
- "The precondition for eventual and genuine globalization is progressive regionalization," Zbigniew Brzezinski, CFR member, Trilateral Commission cofounder, Bilderberg member, former National Security Advisor under Trilateralist Jimmy Carter.
This is what the world is like WITHOUT adding Islam to the mix. This is what the world is like WITHOUT Christianity as a major guiding influence in the affairs of men and governments.
Christianity has never been able to build God's Kingdom on earth-- it is not within the Church's pervue --because man has genuine free will. Each and every man, woman and child born beneath the sun must choose to accept Christ and have his or her heart changed. Most will never choose Christ over the world. Christianity doesn't seek to impose itself upon the world (which is why there is so much darkness in the world). But Islam does.
I have more to say on this, but time is my enemy. More later.
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posted by EL @ 9:34 AM,
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Thursday, June 25, 2009
Did the "King of Pop" Know the KING of Kings?
Are Jehovah's Witness's Christian? Jackson was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and was considered a member of that cult until 1983, but did he ever accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior? Did he ever repent of his sin?
These are questions to consider in everyone's life, for what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? It is a pearl without price; its worth impossible to measure, even if one could fill the vast emptiness of space-- the entire universe! --with gold. The very truth of the matter is: Fill the universe with cold hard cash and still you couldn't buy your soul from God.
May he rest in peace, but... without Christ they'll be no peace for Michael Jackson.
That is the saddest aspect of his death.
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posted by EL @ 5:01 PM,
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Creative Hegemony -- Project 2 Cont.
Tyranny of Surf - Part 5
[Click HERE for a larger version]
Two more hours of work comprising minor touches... subtle. Total work time is now 19 hours over a week and three days. My first post on this project comprises three days worth of work.
The beach now has a sandy texture, but there's still a tweak or two left to do. I've added several layers of shading on the surfboard to give the edges some depth and lighting. A new shadow for "Creative..." that only affects the surfboard, and a new shadow for the surfboard that only affects the tree's trunk. Also, a touch to subtly lessen the stark transition between land and sea.
Things still to do:
- Surfboard Ornamentation
- Floral Touches in the upper right hand corner and along the bottom
- Perhaps a coconut drink with umbrella, straw, and a little lipstick
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posted by EL @ 5:02 PM,
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Monday, June 22, 2009
Creative Hegemony -- Project 2 Cont.
Add five and a half hours to the tally... with nothing to show.
...That's twenty-two and half all told.
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posted by EL @ 5:24 PM,
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Friday, June 19, 2009
Creative Hegemony -- Project 2 Cont.
Tyranny of Surf - Part 4
[Click HERE for a larger version]
Say hello to more wave detail, and a rudimentary beach. Say hello, also, to another hour and a half.
If I had to guess where I am with this piece, I'd say I'm somewhere between 50 and 70% finished.
It's shaping up nicely, considering I had no picture in my head whatsoever when I began this. It started with script, which made me think of the beach, which made me think of surfing, which led to the tropics and coconuts, and then to a great big wave.
The count is now 17 and a half hours.
I'm not even going to look at it this weekend. I'm taking a break.
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posted by EL @ 10:55 PM,
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